The Big 12 is looking to get back to being a 12-team conference, officially extending membership invitations to 4 programs Friday morning.

One of the big stories of the offseason was the (eventual) move of Oklahoma and Texas to the SEC. Two key members of the Big 12, the Sooners and Longhorns will be joining the SEC, making it a 16-team league.

With those departures, the Big 12 would have dropped down to 8 members. In reaction to those departures, the Big 12 announced it is extending invitations to BYU, Cincinnati, UCF, and Houston.

These invitations are likely to be accepted and will be a big blow to the American Athletic Conference (AAC). Cincinnati, Houston, and UCF are all current members of the AAC with Cincinnati beginning the season as a top-10 season. BYU is currently an independent but previously played alongside current Big 12 member TCU in the Mountain West Conference.

The Big 12 has the teams it had zeroed in on for expansion, but this current era of expansion is likely far from over.