FRISCO, TEXAS – Half of the 16 Big 12 Conference members were at the Ford Center at The Star in Frisco, Texas, Tuesday for the league's two-day media extravaganza, powered by Microsoft Copilot.
Arizona State and Iowa State, which played in last year's Big 12 Championship Game, were on hand today as well as Baylor, BYU, UCF, Cincinnati, Kansas State and Texas Tech.
Tomorrow's other half includes Arizona, Colorado, Houston, Kansas, Oklahoma State, TCU, Utah and West Virginia.
A standing Commissioner Brett Yormark kicked off the event by touting the Big 12's accomplishments in all sports, listing some of the league's new sponsorship and business ventures and expressing his desire for the College Football Playoffs to adopt the 5+11 model that is also supported by the Atlantic Coast Conference.
"We want to earn it on the field," he said. "We do not need a professional model because we are not the NFL. 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."
Yormark cited the recently announced PayPal partnership as a way the Big 12 is leveraging its expanded membership and he's excited about new ventures in licensing and collectibles to increase the conference's brand.
He also teased a forthcoming announcement tomorrow regarding the WWE and the Big 12.
"This year, you'll see us double down in that effort, including exploring documentaries and storytelling opportunities," he said. Part of that is a new partnership that will give every Big 12 student-athlete their own customized app to help them build their personal brand.
During Yormark's three years overseeing the league, he has successfully steered the Big 12 beyond the departures of Texas and Oklahoma and the additions of BYU, UCF, Cincinnati and Houston two years ago, and then Arizona State, Arizona, Colorado and Utah last year.
According to Yormark, his goal at the outset was to "modernize" the conference.
"I wanted to be more contemporary," he explained. "I wanted to get on the consciousness of future student-athletes. I wanted to create a foundation that would enable us to succeed. I wanted to be a national conference, and I wanted to double down with ESPN and FOX. We've done all of that and more. I love the trajectory of this conference; I love where we're going, and our schools are making incredible investments."
Yormark once again mentioned the overall depth of the Big 12 from top to bottom, as evidenced by Arizona State winning the conference championship despite being picked 16
th in last year's preseason poll. BYU also won 10 games despite being picked to finish 13
th.
The commissioner conceded the poll may have negatively impacted the conference's standing in last year's College Football Playoffs.
Consequently, the coaches opted not to release a preseason poll this summer.
"I think it disadvantaged Arizona State last year," he admitted. "They were picked 16
th, and I think that hurt them.
"I think there is no value (to having a preseason poll)," he added. "And I also feel that with the transfer portal and with roster management and what goes on as you build that roster, no one knows what they really have. They know what they have on paper, but it hasn't played out. So, I don't know if (not having preseason polls is) a trend or not, but certainly it's the right thing for the Big 12 and I'm glad we did it."
Among the eight coaches who were on the dais today, BYU's Kalani Sitake and Texas Tech's Joey McGuire were both asked about their school's aggressive approach with Name, Image and Likeness funding that has resulted in impressive recruiting hauls.
Texas Tech has signed nine ESPN.com Top 100 transfer prospects, including five top 50 players. BYU's 2026 class is being touted as one of the best in school history.
Sitake believes the Big 12 has significantly raised BYU's profile.
"First of all, when this thing all started, we were an independent team," he said. "When I grew up cheering for BYU as a young kid we were in the WAC, then we went in the Mountain West and then independent.
"When we got invited (to the Big 12) that was kind of the change," Sitake continued. "We're now in a power conference and thankful to the Big 12 for inviting us into the conference. We saw things change, not just from resources, but also, it kind of settled a lot of arguments for people not to come to BYU."
McGuire admits it has been a fun offseason for him.
"We were really aggressive whenever it came to the portal and meeting some of our needs for our football team," he said, adding, "I know there's a lot of expectations on the team; we look at it as opportunities."
Arizona State coach Kenny Dillingham is aware of the talent Texas Tech has added to its roster during the offseason.
He posted on X recently his belief that the Red Raiders could be the team to beat in the Big 12 this year.
"They beat our butt last year and they added a lot of really good players to their football team, I mean, a ton of really good players," he said. "They probably had the best portal haul of any team in college football already on a good football team with a good football coach in a fun environment to play at.
"I think anybody who says they don't have the talent to win the league is absolutely delusional," he added.
Interesting comments, for sure, as were Iowa State coach Matt Campbell's about the challenges of returning to the Big 12 Championship Game.
Among things that are controllable, Campbell cited his team's overall toughness as one of the most important determinants.
"If we're going to get back there this year, you got to be pretty tough," he explained. "You know, we've changed a lot of things in football, but the one thing you haven't changed is are you tough enough? And you know that toughness isn't just physical, sometimes it's mental too.
"We deal with 18 to 22-year-olds and are they tough enough to stay the course through the entirety of a football season? I think that's a real challenge. I think it is really unique for Iowa State football this year and we're going to figure out if we're tough enough to be able to do it again," he said.
West Virginia football fans should take note of Campbell's comments because toughness is something returning coach
Rich Rodriguez has been preaching to his football team since his arrival last December.
Of the things needed to be addressed, overall toughness and improved conditioning are the two that Rodriguez and his staff can take care of immediately.
We'll hear more from Rodriguez and veteran players
Jaden Bray,
Landen Livingston and
Edward Vesterinen tomorrow when Media Days continue.
