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BIG 12 SQUAD - MAJOR CHANGE is coming to College Sports | Will UCF BENEFIT?

April 9, 2026·29 min·2 clips

A panel of Big 12 experts debates how a Trump executive order on athlete transfers is being ignored by players like Anthony Roy.

1. The Big 12 Squad weekly roundtable convenes with hosts from Locked On UCF, BYU, Houston, Oklahoma State, Arizona State, and West Virginia to discuss the conference's biggest current issues. 2. Drake Toll hosts alongside Jake Hatch (Locked On Cougars/BYU), Parker Ainsworth (Locked On Houston), Cody Stovall (Locked On Oklahoma State), Philip Mulford (Locked On Arizona State), and Paul (Locked On West Virginia), each representing their program's perspective. 3. The episode's core question is whether Trump's executive order limiting college athlete transfers to once every five years will actually change anything, given that no enforcement body exists. 4. Cody Stovall opens with Anthony Roy as an example — a player simultaneously entering the NBA draft and the transfer portal to maximize whichever opportunity pays more. 5. Jake Hatch identifies Rob Wright as the most striking case: Wright signed a contract with Baylor, then overnight entered the transfer portal and reportedly landed at BYU for $3 million. 6. Philip Mulford notes the NCAA has been failing to govern this situation for over 40 years, and that Trump himself acknowledged in his statement that the order would likely face an injunction before August 1. 7. Paul from West Virginia describes freshman DJ Thomas — recruited from Allen, Texas as a two-star prospect, flourishing under Ross Hodge, and immediately entering the transfer portal after West Virginia's Crown Tournament run. 8. The UConn-to-Big-12 discussion begins with a tweet from 'Professor Wild Ute' calling the addition an 'all-time epic failure,' and Baylor Burner's reply dismissing Utah fans as impossible to please. 9. Drake Toll argues that a Tuesday night matchup between TCU women and UConn women in Fort Worth, or Kansas men versus UConn men in Lawrence, would be an obvious benefit to the conference. 10. Parker Ainsworth notes that Tommy Lloyd of Arizona publicly said Big 12 membership elevated his program, suggesting UConn would experience the same effect and lift others around them. 11. UConn has won six national championships in men's basketball and appeared in seven of the last several tournaments, including three of the last four finals, winning two — figures Drake uses to justify the addition. 12. Philip Mulford delivers a dissent, arguing that conferences are supposed to be regional, that the Big 12 already stretches from West Virginia to Arizona, and that adding a Connecticut school makes the concept meaningless. 13. Drake Toll counters with the 'toothpaste is already out of the tube' argument — since the Big 10 is now on the West Coast and the Big 12 spans the continent, the only rational move is to chase cache and survival. 14. Cody Stovall supports UConn membership, arguing the Big 12 needs national titles in multiple sports and that UConn would be 'gracious' in ways Utah has not been. 15. Jake Hatch concedes the geographic purist argument but sides with adding UConn, saying the league needs the credibility boost and that regional conferences are already a thing of the past. 16. A cameo by Darien Gray of Locked On Horned Frogs pivots the show to Big 12 baseball, with TCU having recovered from a slow start after beating Vanderbilt and Arkansas early in the season at Globe Life Field. 17. West Virginia leads the conversation in baseball at 21-7 under Steve Sabins, with Gavin Kelly hitting over .300 with six home runs and 40 RBIs, and Armani Guzman providing speed in the outfield. 18. Arizona State's Landon Hairston has hit 19 home runs in the first half — already within one of the program's single-season record — and is batting .450 with 53 RBIs as the team's leadoff hitter. 19. The episode suits fans of Big 12 college athletics who follow multiple sports across football, basketball, and baseball, and enjoy multi-host roundtable debate formats. 20. Listeners who prefer single-sport deep dives or find roster transfer news tedious will likely not find value here.

As heard by us

A focused Big 12 realignment debate over UConn, brand value, and travel tradeoffs.

The discussion frames Big 12 realignment as a practical test of what UConn would really bring to the league. It weighs travel for nonrevenue sports against brand cachet, national titles, and the value of added visibility, while keeping the fit question open rather than forcing a…

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Want a rowdy Big 12 debate on whether UConn adds cachet or just more headaches?

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