University of Houston to join Big XII next summer: 'See you in 2023'

July 1, 2023 will be the official date of when the University of Houston (UH) is to depart the American Athletic Conference (AAC) and enter the Big XII Conference, according to The Associated Press (AP) and Houston CBS affiliate KHOU.

UH said that it had reached an agreement on Friday (June 10) with the AAC to join the Big XII earlier than expected, per the report. 

"See you in 2023," UH's official Twitter account said in a tweet.

The announcement came about nine months after UH officially accepted an invitation to join the Power Five Conference after the Big 12 presidents unanimously approved its application, according to the Houston Chronicle, Houston Daily reported.

The Big 12’s addition of Houston, BYU, Cincinnati and Central Florida creates a 14-team league, as well as fills huge voids created by the Southeastern Conference (SEC)-bound Texas and Oklahoma.

UH said that the 2023-2024 academic year will be the first for the Cougars to compete in the Big XII, the AP and KHOU reported.

The university is expected to compete in all sports, the report said.

“We look forward to finishing strong in The American next year before starting a new era of Houston Athletics in the Big 12," Dr. Renu Khator, the university's president, said, according to the report. "The competition will be fierce, but we are primed and ready to accept the challenge. I’m grateful to AAC Commissioner Mike Aresco and his staff for their professionalism during our discussions. And while I look back with great pride on all we’ve accomplished over the last decade, I’m eager to set the bar even higher.”

UH's imminent entrance into the Big XII comes just as its football and men's basketball teams experience a surge in success.

The football program, whose head coach, Dana Holgorsen, received a contract extension through the 2027 season, completed its 2021 campaign with a bowl victory, while the basketball team is a year removed from its first Final Four appearance since the Phi Slama Jama era almost four decades ago.

Citing the AP, Houston NBC affiliate KPRC reported that Aresco hailed the soon-to-be exiting institutions for coming up with a “sensible resolution.”