- Brett Yormark, Big 12 commissioner, emphasizes the conference's strength and future prospects.
- Yormark supports a 5+11 College Football Playoff model, focusing on field performance.
- He expects multiple Big 12 teams to earn CFP bids, highlighting conference competitiveness.
FRISCO, Texas — As Big 12 commissioner Brett Yormark prepared for his opening remarks at football media days, the third-year commissioner appeared more relaxed than his previous two years.
Even with the never-ending changes surrounding college football, Yormark had an air of confidence and comfortability about him as he joked with media. He then carried that over in his prepared remarks and question-and-answer period.
His first two season were engulfed in an ever-changing landscape and a threat of viability, but in Year 3 it was all about moving forward with pitching his conference's strength and power in the world of collegiate sports.
And at least one thing was certain: Yormark is doubling down on the future of the Big 12.
"Looking ahead, our focus remains on thriving in this new era of college athletics," Yormark said. "Strengthening our football product remains essential. We are committed to continued investment and growth. ... And, once again, I believe we will be the deepest football conference in America. No league offers the competitive balance that we do. "
Part of that is positioning the conference to be ready for an evolving College Football Playoff, which is expected to expand to 14 or 16 teams after the 2025 season. Yormark reiterated the conference's favored position of a 5+11 model, which he called the "right model" in which teams can "earn it on the field."
"We do not need a professional model, because we are not the NFL," Yormark said, speaking in opposition of another model that would guarantee the conferences set auto-bids. "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."
That 5+11 model may not always be advantageous to the Big 12 — Yormark even admitted it "might not be the best solution today for the Big 12" — but looking at the long-term ramifications of the changes, the Big 12 maintains a desire to earn it on the field.
He said he has "a lot of faith in the selection process" and doesn't believe the committee inherently creates a disadvantage for the Big 12; however, he acknowledged there is an ongoing audit to "figure out how they can modernize and contemporize and how they use data and how certain metrics can be more heavily weighted."
"I fully expect the Big 12 to earn multiple College Football Playoff bids this year and to show, once again, that we can compete with anyone," Yormark said.
The Big 12 has touted its parity the last couple years — and Yormark believes that's a good thing for the league — but he sees it as "critical" to have a couple schools "emerge as elite schools" in the conversation surrounding the top teams in the country.
"It starts with parity and being competitive top to bottom, and I think we're there; I think we're the best in the country, when you think about how deep we are top to bottom," Yormark said. "But I do believe that long term, you need certain schools to emerge to the top, and I think we're getting there."
To help with some of that, the conference decided to do away with a preseason media poll as not to be a "disadvantage" to schools who don't know what they have on the field in the era of massive roster turnover.
Yormark said having Arizona State picked 16th last season and then winning the conference "disadvantaged Arizona State last year."
"We don't want to disadvantage any of our schools, because, again, with roster management, the transfer portal, no one knows really what they have until they take the field," he said. "And I think it was the right decision for us, and I'm happy we made it."
