Cincinnati was consistently in the upper half of the AAC for women’s swimming and diving, so that’s a significant loss as well.
As previously stated, Houston has won the women’s AAC title for seven consecutive years, meaning the top program in the conference has now left.
#JACOB FINK PHOTOGRAPHY PRO#
That’s especially notable at this moment, given SMU has had the off-season of the century, bringing in a bunch of talented transfers while also gaining pro swimmer Nic Fink.ĪAC women’s swimming and diving has seen quite the shakeup as well. Cincinnati has now left the AAC, leaving SMU alone as the only men’s swimming and diving program in the conference. For the past few years, the AAC featured only two men’s swimming and diving programs: Cincinnati and SMU. In particular, the AAC is now facing a major shakeup. Truthfully, the bigger impact from this move will probably be felt on the side of the conferences BYU, Cincy, and Houston left than the Big 12 itself. BYU, Cincy, and Houston will be competitive with Kansas, West Virginia, Iowa State, and TCU on the women’s side of the conference, while the Cougars and Bearcats will fit very well with the Horned Frogs and Mountaineers on the men’s side. Texas has long been the class of Big 12 swimming and diving, and they will remain so for another season, but once the Longhorns leave the conference, there will be a ton of parity among the remaining teams. From a fit perspective, these new swimming and diving additions to the conference should be great. Women’s programs in the conference have now gone from five to eight, while the men’s programs have gone from three to five. These new additions add much more depth to Big 12 swimming and diving. They didn’t have any athletes at the NCAA Championships and didn’t attend the CSCAA National Invite Championships, however, Houston is a great program with a lot of depth. Houston, a women’s only swimming and diving program, won its seventh-consecutive women’s AAC title this past season. They had a swimmer, Joleigh Crye, make the Women’s NCAA Championships as just a freshman, where she finished 22nd in prelims of the 100 breast. Brad Prolo competed in the 200 IM, 100 breast, and 200 fly, while diver Mickey Strauss competed in all three diving events.Īs for Cincinnati, the Bearcats finished fifth in the American Athletic Conference (AAC) Championships on the women’s side, while the men finished second, but we’ll touch more on that men’s finish later. The Cougars also had two athletes advance to the Men’s NCAA Championships in late March. The BYU Cougars are coming off an excellent season in which the men’s team won its third-straight MPSF title, while the women’s team came in third. Now, let’s take a brief look at the three swimming and diving programs that just joined the Big 12. Here is a look at the swimming and diving programs within the Big 12 now: BIG 12 SWIMMING AND DIVING Of course, Texas will be leaving the conference next year (Oklahoma will as well, but they don’t sponsor swimming and diving programs), but even after they do, Big 12 swimming and diving will still have more members than they did prior to these three new teams joining the conference. Prior to this move, the Big 12 featured just three men’s swim and dive teams and five women’s teams. The addition gives a boost to what has long been the smallest of the Power Five conferences for swimming and diving. UCF is the only school out of the bunch that doesn’t sponsor swimming and diving programs.
As of July 1, those four new members, three of which sponsor swimming and diving, have joined the conference. In response to that, the Big 12 invited four new members to join the Power Five conference: BYU, Cincinnati, Houston, and UCF. If you recall, Texas and Oklahoma announced plans to move to the SEC beginning in 2025. The massive shakeup to the Big 12 has begun as of July 1, 2023. Share As of July 1, BYU, Cincinnati, Houston, and UCF Have Officially Joined the Big 12 on LinkedIn.Share As of July 1, BYU, Cincinnati, Houston, and UCF Have Officially Joined the Big 12 on Pinterest.Submit As of July 1, BYU, Cincinnati, Houston, and UCF Have Officially Joined the Big 12 to Reddit.Tweet As of July 1, BYU, Cincinnati, Houston, and UCF Have Officially Joined the Big 12.Share As of July 1, BYU, Cincinnati, Houston, and UCF Have Officially Joined the Big 12 on Facebook.July 06th, 2023 AAC, Big 12, College, NCAA Division I Mid-Major, News
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