Brett Yormark believes the Big 12 has clearly solidified itself as one of the nation’s top three conferences in a period of drastic change in college athletics, and the commissioner said the expanding league is more relevant than it has ever been in its three-decade history.
“We are truly a national conference in 10 states, four time zones, and all eyes are now on the Big 12 for all the right reasons,” Yormark said at the start of league’s football media days event Tuesday in Las Vegas.
While the league’s past national champions, Oklahoma and Texas, left for the Southeastern Conference, a move that became official last week, Yormark touted the additions of the Four Corners schools from the Pac-12: Arizona, Arizona State, Colorado and Utah. Those schools are participating in media days before their Big 12 membership formally begins at the start of August to make it a 16-team league for the first time.
“On the football front, we will be the deepest conference in America. Every week will matter,” said Yormark, who then repeated that for emphasis before moving on. “We have star power and parity. We boast some of the top players and coaches in the game. November will be incredibly exciting, and we will brand it as a race to the championship.”
The Southeastern Conference and the Big Ten, the wealthiest and most powerful leagues, have been working together — and at one point this year had proposed multiple automatic bids for their conferences in the College Football Playoff, which expands from four to 12 teams this season.