Big 12 commissioner Brett Yormark said the league would look to replace its conference championship games if the College Football Playoff expansion to 24 teams eliminates them. Speaking Tuesday at Big 12 media day in Kansas City, Missouri, he stressed that no decisions have been made and that the playoff expansion remains speculation.
Yormark emphasized that tentpole events matter to the league. The Big 12 football title game set a conference record with 85,519 fans at AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas, last year, and the men's and women's basketball tournaments have also been very valuable. The league has an agreement to keep both tournaments in Kansas City at T-Mobile Center through 2031. "We're in the event business," Yormark said. "If for some reason, if one goes away, we'll replace it with something different."
Yormark also pointed to the expanded NCAA basketball tournament, now 76 teams, as a benefit for the Big 12, which had eight men's and eight women's teams in the field last season. He called the league the "second-best basketball league" behind only the NBA, noting a conference-record nine first-round picks in the 2026 NBA draft. The league is also discussing a return to 20 conference games.
Despite ongoing realignment talk, Yormark said he is content with the league's 16 members. He credited the recent success of BYU football and basketball to member investment and said the board shares a common mission. "I'm happy with 16 [schools] right now," he said.
Source: ESPN General · Summarized by HeadlinesBriefing