What is a Swoop and the ‘Fork’? Where’s the ‘Bounce House’? Meet the new Big 12 teams
There’s a new feathered mascot “swooping” into the Big 12 soon — heads-up, Jayhawks — as the conference begins its makeover by adding four new schools this season, and another four more in 2024-25.
That’s a lot of new fight songs, school colors, traditions and mascots for fans to learn.
Do you know which mascots are married? Or what “throwing up the fork” means in Tempe, Arizona? Or which school entertains football fans by having a live buffalo drag a bunch of students across the field?
Do you know which new conference member claims Kansas City Chiefs head coach Andy Reid as a famous grad? And how many cougar mascots can one conference handle?
While eight schools are rolling in, Oklahoma and Texas will hit the road next year for the SEC. (Don’t let the door hit you…)
To prepare for the new Big 12, which will really be a Big 16 eventually, we’ve gathered some of the non-sports lowdown on the newcomers.
First up, schools coming this year:
Brigham Young University (BYU)
Location: Provo, Utah
Previous conference: West Coast Conference (except football, where they’re independent).
School colors: Navy blue for truth, white for purity.
Mascot: Cosmo the Cougar, inspired by BYU’s reputation as an international, “cosmopolitan” university.
Fight song: “Cougar Song.”
Tradition: Almost every game broadcast shows Y Mountain just east of campus. It’s named for the 380-foot-tall “Y” of whitewashed rock halfway up its side.
Known for: One of the largest private universities in the United States, it’s sponsored by the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, or Mormons.
Main rival: University of Utah. Their annual football game is known as the Holy War.
Famous alumni: Former Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney, uber-”Jeopardy” winner and host Ken Jennings, and Andy Reid.
University of Cincinnati
Location: Cincinnati
Previous conferences: American Athletic Conference and, before that, Big East
School colors: Official UC Red Flat, Beyond Black Flat and White Flat
Mascot: Bearcat
Chants: The fight song “Cheer Cincinnati,” “Red and Black” and more.
Tradition: The “Down the Drive” cheer, which is a long “oooooooooh,” followed by “U-C.”
Reputation: A 2023 report from college data site Niche ranked Cincinnati as the 45th best public school.
Rivals: Xavier University in basketball and Miami University in football.
Famous alumni: Kansas City Chief and two-time Super Bowl champion Travis Kelce, who almost got kicked off the team. Also: his brother, Jason, President William Howard Taft and actor George Clooney.
University of Central Florida (UCF)
Location: 13 miles east of Orlando
Previous conference: American Athletic Conference
School colors: Black and gold.
Mascot: Knightro, a black knight in golden armor.
Chants: At kickoff, fans yell ““awwwwwww … U-C-F-Knights!” When the Knights score a touchdown, they yell, “Charge on.”
Traditions: The homecoming “Spirit Splash,” with students running into the iconic Reflection Pond.
Zombie Nation’s “Kernkraft 400” fires up fans in the football stadium, aka the “Bounce House,” because students jump to the beat, sometimes making the place shake.
Fight song: “Charge On”
Reputation: With nearly 70,000 students UCF is the largest university in Florida and one of the largest in the country. It is considered by some a big party school. Trolls say UCF stands for U Can’t Finish and Under Construction Forever.
Rivals: University of South Florida Bulls.
Famous alumni: Hulk Hogan, golfer Lucy Robson and comedian Gallagher.
University of Houston
Location: Houston
Previous conference: American Athletic Conference
Colors: Scarlet Red and Albino White, from former Texas Gov. Sam Houston’s ancestor, Sir Hugh.
Mascot: Shasta VII, a live cougar (yes, another cougar mascot) from the Houston Zoo, plus costumed mascots Shasta and Sasha.
Fight song: The “Cougar Fight Song,” written and produced by former students Forest Fountain and Marion Ford in the 1950s.
Chant: “Eat ‘Em Up! Eat ‘Em Up! Go Coogs Go,” or “C-C-C-O-U, G-G-G-A-R, C-O-U, G-A-R, Go Cougars.”
Tradition: “Frontier Fiesta,” a student-run annual event with free live concerts, multicultural performances and a barbecue showdown.
Reputation: The Eternal Flame of Service monument pays tribute to every organization on and off campus that works to serve others.
Main rival: Rice University, called the “Bayou Bucket Classic” in football.
Famous alumni: Hip-hop artist Lil Wayne, Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren, actors Jim Parsons, Dennis and Randy Quaid.
Coming in 2024:
University of Arizona
Location: Tucson
Previous conference: Pac-12
School colors: Arizona Red and Arizona Blue. The red represents dye that Indigenous people extracted from the cochineal, an insect that lives in pear cactus.
Mascots: Wilbur and Wilma Wildcat. Wilbur was created in 1959, and Wilma debuted in 1986. They’re married.
Chants: “Bear Down,” the slogan and unofficial fight song. Those were the last words Arizona student body president and quarterback John Byrd “Button” Salmon told his coach in the hospital before dying from a car crash in 1926.
Fight song: “Fight Wildcats, Fight”
Tradition: The student section, dubbed the “Zona Zoo,” has 10 rules, such as jingling your keys before kickoff and yelling, “Nice shot, buddy. Do it again,” if the opposing team misses the first free throw.
Reputation: It’s a Hispanic Serving Institution, a federal designation for colleges with 25% or more undergraduate Hispanic full-time students.
Rivals: Arizona State Sun Devils. “The Duel in the Desert” football game dates to Thanksgiving Day 1899.
Famous alumni: Head coach for the NBA’s Golden State Warriors Steve Kerr, media personality Kourtney Kardashian, actor and comedian Kristen Wiig, retired NFL superstar Rob Gronkowski and TV and movie producer Jerry Bruckheimer.
Arizona State University
Location: Tempe. The Walter Cronkite School of Journalism is in Phoenix.
Previous conference: Pac-12
School colors: ASU Maroon and ASU Gold.
Mascot: Sparky the Sun Devil debuted as a person in 1951. Sparky was designed by former Disney employee Berk Anthony in the late 1940s as a logo.
Traditions: On Mondays, students wear ASU Maroon and on Fridays, ASU Gold. Students throw up the “Fork,” a hand sign that brings your ring finger and thumb together, leaving the rest of your fingers pointing up, like Sparky’s pitchfork.
Chants: “Hey You,” and “No Rain.”
Fight song: “Maroon and Gold”
Reputation: It was one of the top party schools, but now it ranks No. 53 in college data site Niche’s 2023 list. Campus housing includes resort-style pools, adding to the party atmosphere.
Rivals: As mentioned above, the Arizona Wildcats in “The Duel in the Desert.”
Famous alumni: Pro golfer Phil Mickelson, the late fashion designer and Kansas City native Kate Spade, TV host Jimmy Kimmel and sports broadcaster Al Michaels.
University of Colorado
Location: Boulder, with campuses in Aurora, Colorado Springs and Denver.
Previous conference: The school left the Big 12 in 2011 to join the Pac-12. ”They’re back,” said the Big 12’s two-word announcement.
School colors: Black and gold.
Mascot: A character mascot named Chip the Buffalo and a live mascot, Ralphie the Buffalo — a real bison (follow her on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram, @cubuffsralphie).
Chant: “F’em up, f’em up, go CU.”
Fight song: “Fight CU”
Reputation: These are the words alums online often use to describe the school: Party school, environmentally savvy, liberal, marijuana and great skiing.
Rivals: The Rocky Mountain Rivalry with Colorado State University.
Famous alumni: “South Park” creators Trey Parker and Matt Stone, Apple co-founder Steve Wozniak, “Law & Order” star Christopher Meloni. Robert Redford and Jonah Hill attended but didn’t graduate because — cough, cough — they admit partying more than studying.
University of Utah
Location: Salt Lake City
School colors: Red and white
Previous conference: Pac-12
Mascot: Swoop represents a red-tailed hawk indigenous to Utah. Teams are known as the “Utes,” the name of the Native American tribe the state is named after.
Fight song: “Utah Man.” You haven’t lived until you’ve heard the Mormon Tabernacle Choir sing a song that has roots in burlesque.
Traditions: “Flashing the U” is one of the newest, with thumbs touching and index fingers pointing skyward. It grabbed attention during the school’s 2008 undefeated Sugar Bowl season.
The MUSS, or Mighty Utah Student Section, sings the fight song at football games and never sits. One trick they use: the Third Down Jump, where they jump and make noise when the opposing team is preparing a third-down play.
Reputation: The Runnin’ Utes basketball program is “one of the most storied basketball programs in the NCAA,” says Sports Illustrated.
Rivals: BYU Cougars. (That shouldn’t change since they’re both coming.)
Famous alumni: Former Kansas City Chiefs quarterback Alex Smith, ESPN reporter Holly Rowe and Pong inventor Nolan Bushnell.
