Big 12 Commissioner Brett Yormark officially kicked off Big 12 media days on Tuesday.
Entering year three of his tenure as Big 12 Commissioner, Yormark is overseeing a big change in the make up of the league.
As of July 1, the Big 12 said goodbye to Oklahoma and Texas, two longtime members who are now in the SEC. Now, in under a month on Aug. 2, Yormark will officially welcome in four new schools, Arizona, Arizona State, Colorado, and Utah.
"There has never been a better time than right now to be apart of the Big 12. We are truly a national conference in 10 states, four time zones. All eyes are on the Big 12 for all the right reasons and I think it’s safe to say we are more relevant now than ever before," Yormark said.
The four new schools are the second part of realignment which first saw the conference land BYU, Cincinnati, Houston, and UCF. Now, sitting at 16 teams, and due to the departures of Oklahoma and Texas, the Big 12 figures to be one of the best overall leagues in the country, top to bottom.
"I’ve been saying it for a year now, but the four corners was the a-scenario for us when we thought about realignment. Big brands, great markets, engaged fanbases, both academic excellence and athletic excellence," Yormark said. "And as I said earlier, we got deeper and better in football, we got deeper and better in basketball, and we got deeper and better in Olympic sports. So, it’s been a win for this conference. I’m thrilled and excited on August 2 to officially welcome the four corners and I think we’re in for something really special as a conference."
That parity piece will be seen all fall for the Big 12's 16 schools, with six of the 16 achieving at least eight wins last season.
"I think there’s a lot of parity. We’ve got 16 great coaches, we’ve got a lot of star power when you think about the quarterbacks, you think about the running backs," Yormark said. "Many of our programs have been building over the last couple of years so I think it’s only natural and appropriate for us to think that way right now. We were a very deep conference last year, but we got deeper with the four corners schools.
"So, I’m expecting great things from our schools this year. I think last year we underperformed a little bit, candidly. I don’t expect that to be the case this year. Every week will matter and as I said earlier, November, we will brand the month as a race to a championship because I think it will be really tight this year and it will take until towards the end of the season for us to determine who will show up at AT&T Stadium for that championship game."
Yormark hammered home the point of how every game will have an impact on who the final two teams are that play in the Big 12 Championship game.
"On the football front, we will be the deepest conference in America. Every week will matter."
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