Today, the Big 12 Conference announced the launch of Big 12 Homecoming, a Conference-wide celebration of the Big 12 brand that will bring three days of entertainment and community engagement to the campuses of Big 12 members.
Big 12 Homecoming will visit four campuses per fall, each during a home football game weekend. To celebrate their arrival to the Big 12, the first campuses visited by Big 12 Homecoming will be the four incoming members, Houston, Cincinnati, UCF and BYU. The remaining eight Conference members will see Big 12 Homecoming visit their campuses in future years.
“We are thrilled to launch Big 12 Homecoming and debut this celebration of our Conference on the campuses of our four newest members,” said Big 12 Chief Marketing Officer Tyrel Kirkham. “Each of these four programs have waited years for this moment, and as a Conference, we want to ensure their arrival is memorialized and celebrated. These events will bring a new level of entertainment and excitement to Big 12 campuses.”
Big 12 Homecoming will see activations take place on Thursday, Friday and Saturday of home football game weekends. Thursday will feature a women’s empowerment event including panels and discussions alongside female student-athletes and female leaders impacting change across campus. On Friday, Big 12 student-athletes and coaches will visit one elementary school to unveil a $50K makeover for a new library / media center as a part of the College Football Playoff Foundation’s signature program, Extra Yard Makeover Project. Saturday of Big 12 Homecoming will see the Big 12 enhance each school’s pre-game tailgating experience with live DJ performances, limited edition merchandise giveaways, an armed forces pre-game flyover and more.
The inaugural Big 12 Homecoming weekend will take place in Houston on Thursday, September 14th through Saturday, September 16th as the Cougars host TCU. Big 12 Homecoming will visit Cincinnati from September 21st through the 23rd as the Bearcats play Oklahoma and will travel to Orlando on September 28th through the 30th as UCF hosts Baylor. 2023’s Big 12 Homecoming tour will conclude with a trip to Provo on October 19th through the 21st as BYU takes on Texas Tech.