By: Robert Craft

TheSouthernSportsEdition.com news services

Gus Malzahn can’t wait for UCF to join the Big 12.

The football coach for the Knights believes the AAC has a lot to offer, and wants to show the college football world its teams can compete on a Power 5 level.

With UCF, Cincinnati, Houston set to join the Big 12 — alongside BYU — in 2023, they will finally get their chance. Malzahn discussed how he believes the new additions will fit in with the rest of the league.

“As of right now, it looks like this will be the last year,” the coach said. “You’re absolutely right that Cincinnati had a great team. You’re talking about Houston, SMU, Memphis — there’re some really good teams in this league. It looks like we’ll be going to the Big 12 in 2023. We’re really looking forward to that. That’s a big step. It’s really helped us in the recruiting world, so we’re looking forward to it.”

Currently, members of the Big 12 receive $37 million per year from the Big 12’s media deals. UCF currently averages about $7 million per year in The American.

While the departure of Texas and Oklahoma are definitely a blow to the remaining Big 12 schools’ budgets, according to CBS’ Dennis Dodd, the addition of the above four schools does help them preserve a considerable portion of their value:

That’s at least a 3x increase over what UCF is currently making from their media deal.

Figures may vary in the final analysis with the contract renewals coming up, but that means UCF could be jumping from a $7-8 million annual payout from media and the CFP to some $25-30 million per year just by virtue of existing in the Big 12.

The Big 12’s media contract with Fox and ESPN comes to an end in 2025.

Fox could also end up renewing with them, with games on Fox and FS1, but keep in mind that the Big Ten is Fox’s priority, so the Big 12 may prefer another network if they don’t get what they want from Fox.

Moreover, Malzahn believes that his team’s impending move to the Big 12 has already started to have a positive impact on recruiting efforts. UCF signed the No. 1 recruiting class in the AAC for 2022, as well as the 47th overall class nationally.

Malzahn said the promise of playing in a Power 5 league has opened doors for players that the Knights previously had little shot at landing.

“There’s no doubt (it means more to recruits),” he said. “The first year, we went after the top players in the country and in the state and we’d hear, ‘Hey, coach. Y’all are non-Power 5.’ Whether we liked it or not, that’s real for recruits. Since the announcement has been made that we’re going to the Big 12, it’s really opened the door to the top players in the country. We really recruited very well last year and I think we have a chance to really have a great class this year.”

As the Knights earn more legitimacy as a member of a power-5 conference, the battle on the recruiting trail between Florida State, Miami, and Florida will only continue to grow. It’ll make the competition in the state even fiercer and it could get really intriguing if the schools begin to play one another more often.

What long has been a ‘big three’ in the state of Florida is on the cusp of expanding to a ‘big four.’