Jason Williams

jwilliams@enquirer.com

With a decision on Big 12 Conference expansion expected by this fall, the University of Cincinnati has received an endorsement from one of college football's most powerful figures.

"I'm a graduate and a fan," Ohio State coach Urban Meyer told reporters on Sunday. "I think they should be in the Big 12."

Meyer, who has won three national championships coaching Ohio State and Florida, played defensive back for the Bearcats in the 1980s and received a degree in psychology from UC in 1986.

The Big 12 is considering adding two or four schools. In addition to UC, Brigham Young, Houston and Connecticut are regarded as the Big 12's top targets, according to Enquirer sources and media reports. Big 12 presidents are scheduled to meet in October, when a decision could be made. It's possible they will make a decision by next month.

Ohio State's coach is the latest high-profile Ohioan to recently call for the Big 12 to add UC, which hopes to join one of college football's five lucrative conferences. Ohio Gov. John Kasich sent a letter last month to Big 12 commissioner Bob Bowlsby and each of the conference's 10 presidents asking them to invite UC into the league, news first reported by The Enquirer.

Meyer has always been complimentary of UC throughout his coaching career, and he continues to have ties to the school. His sister, Gigi Escoe, is a Vice Provost and long-time economics professor at UC. In 2012, when UC was attempting to join the Atlantic Coast Conference, top university officials had asked Escoe to see if Meyer would be willing to go to bat for his alma mater.

Meyer ended up not contacting the ACC on behalf of UC, according to public records obtained by The Enquirer in December 2012.

"While he is comfortable telling folks he cares deeply for UC and that he knows we are a great school, with great people and great leadership, he thinks his calls would feel contrived and that they would not have an impact," Escoe told then-UC athletic director Whit Babcock in an email.

Meyer continued to show that he cares deeply about UC on Sunday. He might have been taking a risk in calling for the Big 12 to expand into Ohio, which is typically regarded as a top 5 state for high school football talent. If UC joins the Big 12, theoretically that could give traditional powers like Oklahoma and Texas a better opportunity to compete against the Big Ten's Ohio State for top recruits in the Buckeye State.

ESPN.com reported Friday the Big 12 plans to hold video conferences with 17 schools that have expressed interest in joining the league. It's more likely the Big 12 will invite two schools, because adding four could dilute the competition in football and hurt future television contract negotiations. New schools most likely would join the Big 12 at the start of the 2017 football season.

UC officials have been lobbying to join the Big 12 for nearly two years.