I’ve been to Cincinnati, Salt Lake City, Houston and Orlando. They don’t strike me as very similar to Manhattan, Kan.; Ames, Iowa; or Stillwater, Okla. Or even Lawrence, Kan.
From an “eyeballs watching television” perspective, expanding the Big 12 Conference by adding UCF, Brigham Young University, the University of Cincinnati and the University of Houston is a no-brainer. Weary of defections and on the verge of becoming an afterthought, the Big 12 finally went on the offensive and corralled what are arguably the four best options left on the board, not already connected to a Power 5 major conference.