Big 12 commissioner Brett Yormark addresses possible future expansion during ‘a big moment for the conference’

ARLINGTON, Texas — At this time in 2022, Big 12 Conference commissioner Brett Yormark was just several weeks removed from replacing Bob Bowlsby, who had guided the league for the previous decade.

In 2023, the Big 12 consists of 14 members and is entering a year of transition.

Conference stalwarts Oklahoma and Texas, Big 12 charter members since 1996, are in their final seasons before heading to the Southeastern Conference in 2024. Simultaneously, the league is welcoming four new members in BYU, Central Florida, Cincinnati and Houston.

“This is a big moment for the conference as we welcome four new members,” Yormark said on Wednesday during Day One of 2023 Big 12 Football Media Days at AT&T Stadium. “This event kicks off our first-ever season as a 14-team league. We plan to use this season to celebrate the incredible strength we have going forward with our eight continuing members, our four incoming members and celebrate the impact that Texas and Oklahoma have had on this conference since Day One.”

One question frequently posed to Yormark in his first year-plus at the helm is when the conference will be expanding further. Various schools, including Colorado, have been mentioned as possible expansion targets, speculation he quelled for the time being.

“We have a plan for expansion and I’m not really going to address it today. We do have a plan and hopefully we can execute that plan sooner than later,” Yormark said. “I love the composition of this conference right now. The excitement these four new members have brought to this conference has been incredible and if we stay at 12, we’re perfectly fine with that.

“If the opportunity presents itself where there’s something that creates value and aligns well with our goals and objectives, we’re certainly going to pursue it.”

Yormark relayed how the Big 12 has secured a commitment with the Independence Bowl in Shreveport, La., as the conference’s eighth bowl commitment starting this season. He also stated the Big 12 championship game, which has called Arlington home since returning in 2017, will remain at AT&T Stadium, home to the NFL’s Dallas Cowboys, at least until 2030.

Yormark added that for the first time a high-profile musical act will headline a halftime show at the championship game, an act which will be revealed on Aug. 12 when tickets go on sale, and that the 2023 football title tilt will feature the league’s first radio broadcast in Spanish.

Among the Big 12’s accomplishments during his first year at the helm were seeing TCU, a team which began last season unranked, reach the College Football Playoff and end the season in the national championship game. In basketball, the Big 12 sent 70 percent of its men’s teams and 60 percent of its women’s squads to the NCAA tournament.

Later this month, 11 conference men’s and women’s basketball coaches will travel to New York City to hold a basketball clinic at historic Rucker Park, another first for the league. The Big 12 also had 30 players selected in the 2023 NFL Draft, four teams win national championships and 23 student-athletes capture individual national titles.

Yormark also announced the Big 12 had established the Bob Bowlsby Award in honor of the former commissioner to celebrate the conference’s top male and female athletes best representing leadership and excellence on and off the field. Winners of the inaugural award honored later in 2023 are Iowans Ashley Jones of Iowa State and ex-TCU quarterback Max Duggan.

On the surface, the Big 12 Conference might appear to be a league in flux with the exit of arguably two of its most high-profile members, but Yormark disagrees.

“There’s been no better time to be part of the Big 12 than right now. This thing’s going to grow,” Yormark said. “It’s going to move forward in a positive way and I’m really excited about our future.”

Stephen Hunt is a freelance writer based in Frisco, Texas