FRISCO – Everything is bigger in Texas.
That includes the Big 12 Conference, which hopes to expand its brand on a global scale in the near future. Commissioner Brett Yormark revealed some of the plans at Big 12 Media Day Tuesday that will take the conference beyond the United States.
In six weeks, the Big 12 will kick off the 2025 season in Dublin, Ireland, where Kansas State and reigning conference runner-up Iowa State will square off in what Yormark called a “historic moment” for the conference. The following year, TCU will suit up in Dublin against Bill Belichick’s North Carolina.
“All eyes will be on our league,” Yormark said, “both at home and around the globe.”
Expansion isn’t anything new to the Big 12, specifically in Yormark’s third year of leadership. Since he took the lead in 2022, the Big 12 has ballooned to 16 teams across four time zones. Arizona State, one of the four newest programs to the conference, was awarded the first Commissioner’s Cup, an award created to “honor the Big 12 program that excelled both academically and athletically throughout the year,” Yormark said.
As he reflected on the third anniversary of accepting the commissioner role, Yormark acknowledged that the Big 12 has not reached all of its goals yet.
“I wanted to modernize the conference,” Yormark said. “I wanted to be a national conference. I wanted to double down with ESPN and FOX. We’ve done all that and more. I love the trajectory of this conference. … This conference, today, is not the best version of itself, but we will be sooner than later. We have a unified board of an incredible group of (athletic directors). We share in the vision for this conference, and I’m excited about our future.”
Yormark doubled down on his aspirations to grow the brand of the Big 12 by citing several teams and sports leaving the states to play.
“I want this conference to be a global conference,” Yormark said. “I think we can win globally, big time. Playing in Ireland, obviously, is that first step, and we’ll return there next year. There’s a good chance we’ll be in Mexico City next spring for baseball. Baylor’s (women’s basketball team) is kicking off the basketball season in Paris this year. And we’re having conversations with other countries throughout the world that are very interested in bringing the Big 12 to their marketplace.”
The games in Ireland are an “impetus” for future global expansion for Yormark, who called the play overseas “critically important” for the conference.
Expanding the conference’s image was the only type of expansion at the top of the commissioner’s mind. The impending expansion of the College Football Playoff will have a significantimpact on the Big 12. While the format for a field of 16 teams has been debated, Yormark believes his conference will once again have the wealth of several competitive football programs.
“I believe we will be the deepest football conference in America,” Yormark said. “No league offers the competitive balance that we do.”
Yormark doubled down on his support for the 5-plus-11 playoff format, which features the top five conference champions and 11 at-large teams from various conferences. The Big 12 commissioner believes the model could provide opportunities for several Big 12 teams to play on the nation’s biggest stages.
“I fully expect the Big 12 to earn multiple college football playoff bids this year,” Yormark said as part of his opening statement. “And to show, once again, that we can compete with anyone.”
Yormark is against the 4-4-2-2-1 model proposed by the SEC and Big Ten. That bracket would include four teams from the SEC and Big Ten, two teams from the Big 12 and ACC, and one Group of Five contender.
Yormark mentioned a discussion at CFP meetings in June with executive director Richard Clark, who confirmed the CFP is conducting “a full audit of the selection process to figure out how they can modernize and contemporize” how teams are chosen for the playoff. Yormark is confident that it won’t be long before other coaches, athletics directors and conferences climb on board with the Big 12’s proposed playoff format.
“We do not need a professional model because we are not the NFL,” he said. “We are college football, and we must act like it. There is nothing in sports like college football, and we must protect what makes it special and do what’s right for the fans and the game.”
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