What’s next for Brett Yormark and the Big 12 after conference realignment? ‘You could say we’re still open for business’

LAS VEGAS – Midway through Big 12 football media day, inside the air-conditioned confines of Allegiant Stadium, on a steamy day in the desert, a costumed mascot – the furry, brown BYU Cougar – playfully plays with the Cincinnati Bearcats The Utah athletic director watches from a distance.

Mark Harlan, the Utes’ longtime administrator, points to this unusual and, perhaps, unimaginable scenario that brings about a new reality: BYU and Cincinnati are in the same conference as Utah. and Colorado and Arizona states. And Kansas. And Iowa State. and Central Florida.

Yes, Harlan says, it’s strange. It’s a little surreal, almost unbelievable, that a year ago Harlan was walking around at Pac-12 media day just a few blocks from here and just 18 months earlier, his team had won the Pac-12 championship at this very venue.

“Now,” he says, “here we are, playing for the Big 12.”

This is all very strange. But also exciting, says Harlan. New teams. New places. And a new, flamboyant commissioner, who confidently kicked off the two-day event here with a rousing hour-long presentation in which he described his league as one of the three best in the country.

Brett Yormark, dressed in a brown tailored suit and scarlet tie, walked across the elevated platform in front of more than 500 media members, not unlike a WWE wrestler, who was spinning in the ring, jumping and roaring, jokingly was yelling and not so subtly taking digs at its rivals, most notably the A.C.C.

“We have solidified ourselves as one of the top three conferences in America,” he said.

He described the Big 12 as the “deepest” football league in the country and said the conference is “more relevant now than ever.”

He later said, “I won’t stop until we become the No. 1 conference in America.”

His words were strikingly similar to those he gave at Big 12 Media Day a year ago, when he began publicly courting four Pac-12 schools by telling the world that his league is “open for business.” , a line he has been repeating ever since. They ultimately fell to those schools – Arizona, ASU, Utah and Colorado – in one of two upsets that sank the 108-year-old conference (the other being swiping Washington and Oregon from the Big Ten).

A year later, here at the site of the last Pac-12 football title game, the Big 12 continues to look for expansion, he says. This wouldn’t be such a big deal except for the fact: two members of the ACC are actively attempting to opt out.

“I guess you could say we’re still open for business,” he said, smiling. “This is not the time to apply pressure.”

In a constantly changing industry, Yourmark is always on the move, never stopping. An outside-the-box thinker, he has introduced several concepts into his membership in an effort to generate more value and revenue in order to compete with the big dogs (Big Ten and SEC) and keep pace, or stay ahead, as That Yormark tells. , with acc.

The Big 12 is exploring a naming rights deal (with Allstate) and investigating capital investment through private-equity firms. Yourmark is pressuring the NCAA to allow its conference officials to add corporate patches to their uniforms which could generate millions in sponsorship deals. They plan to take their women’s soccer and baseball teams to Mexico for international competition.

He describes himself as a “disruptor”, someone who “stirs the pot.”

He quipped, “College football needs this.”

But not all of these proposals will come to fruition or succeed. From within their own league, there is often pushback to ideas that some say are innovative and some call extreme. For example, the plan to add Gonzaga was left on the cutting room floor. And while there is renewed interest from Yormark in adding UConn, his candidacy remains uncertain. Mexico’s entry into the Big 12, now football and baseball, was originally expected to feature basketball and football games (they appear to have been scrapped).

Support for a league-wide private-equity deal that gives each school $50 million in additional revenue may require an expansion of the rights grant — a hurdle some won’t cross. As far as naming rights go, there is broad membership support to change the Big 12 name to “Allstate 12” in a radical compromise that could deliver millions more to the schools. But there are a lot of complications that can completely ruin the deal.

And what about ACC? The state of the league is so dire that some discussion in Las Vegas is focused on the future of the conference as Florida State and Clemson work to free themselves.

“What’s going on with FSU?” one Big 12 head coach asked.

“Do you know what’s happening at the ACC?” An administrator inquired.

“Jim Phillips is in really bad shape!” Another one was added.

The irony is that the Pac-12 had a similar discussion at Big 12 Media Day a year ago.

Will Yormark get or find enough financial resources to land Clemson or FSU or both? Will he fire another torpedo that will destroy another conference?

We may be a long way from any ACC solution. But a month of unusual football media day events like the one in Las Vegas is about to happen. Then there are the bright lights of SEC media days, starting in, of all places, Dallas, where the Big 12, as it turns out, usually holds its schedule. Texas and Oklahoma will make their first appearances in the event.

The ACC and Big Ten jointly held their media days the following week, July 22–25, with six new West Coast teams. That Friday, July 26, is traditionally reserved for Pac-12 media day.

Instead, the league’s two remaining schools, Washington State and Oregon State, will hold a shortened version of a media event in Vegas on Wednesday night. Meanwhile, their 10 former league partners are scattered across the country: two in the ACC, four in the Big Ten and another four here in the Big 12.

Yogi Roth was also here for Big 12 Opening Day on Tuesday. He has spent the last two decades involved with the Pac-12 in some form or another, first as an assistant at USC and then as a Pac-12 Network analyst and studio host. In fact, Roth hosted last year’s Pac-12 Media Day, which was its final edition — or maybe not. He believes a version of the Pac-12 will improve one day.

It is a “unique window” to restructure the conference, he said. At some point, he asks, won’t schools return to their geographic and cultural footprints?

“What hurts most is that the Pac-12 was at its best. That’s the point,” he said, glancing at the 16 helmets displayed at midfield at Allegiant Stadium.

“I wouldn’t be surprised if Utah or Arizona won this league,” said Roth, who has started a West Coast-geared podcast and started calling Big Ten games this year. “I wouldn’t be surprised if Oregon wins the Big Ten. You start thinking about it. West Coast has a lot of really talented teams that really peaked when the NIL and transfer portal started.

“Now you’re thinking…Utah is playing Central Florida on Friday night at the end of the season? What does it mean? That part is like, what are we doing in college athletics?”

Across the field, Harlan is heading to lunch inside Allegiant Stadium, sharing a story. While flying to Las Vegas on Monday, Utah players asked their athletic director a question: At Big 12 media day, can we talk positively about the Pac-12?

Harlan said it led to thoughtful conversations on plane rides. Of course, he told them, you can talk positively about the Pac-12. Speak your feelings. Say what you feel.

“There’s a story about the Pac-12 and if you weren’t in it, it’s easy to make fun of it, but if you were in it and you fought for it, you have a lot of respect for the times there and the people there. There is respect. ,” Harlan said. “Our players loved competing in the Pac-12 and it did great things for the university and did great things for them. You’re talking about guys who won two championships in that league and in this stadium.

“This is absolutely crazy.”