The Big 12 has officially extended invites to four schools, three of which come from the AAC. The Big 12 has invited independent BYU and AAC schools UCF, Cincinnati, and Houston.

AAC commissioner Mike Aresco reacted to the Friday news as further proof that his conference is on par with the Power 5, according to Yahoo Sports.

“Today’s news confirms what we have said all along regarding our status as a power conference. The irony that three of our schools are being asked to take the place of two marquee schools which are leaving the Big 12 is not lost on us,” Aresco said. “Our conference was targeted for exceeding expectations in a system that wasn’t designed to accommodate our success.”

Texas and Oklahoma are eventually departing the Big 12 for the SEC. Despite their lack of recent football success, Texas has the nation’s richest athletic program. Oklahoma meanwhile has dominated the Big 12, with six straight conference titles and being the lone conference program to make the College Football Playoff.

Each AAC program brings upside into the Big 12. Cincinnati is currently ranked No. 7. UCF went undefeated in 2017 and has a student body of over 70,000. BYU has a strong national following. Houston represents the nation’s fourth-largest city.