Houston, Cincinnati, UCF To Negotiate Settlement To Exit AAC, Join Big 12

Three American Athletic Confrence universities are planning to negotiate a settlement to join the Big 12 conference next year. The Action Network reports Cincinnati, Houston and UCF will make a deal in the 17-to-20-million-dollar range which would allow the three schools to leave the AAC early and join the Big 12 on July 1st, 2023. The AAC requires departing schools to provide a 27 month notice and fork over a ten-million-dollar exit fee without a settlement, meaning the teams would not be able to exit until July 1st, 2024. BYU, a school independent from a conference, will officially be joining the Big 12 next season. A settlement between the three schools and the AAC is reportedly expected to happen sometime this month.