FRISCO, Texas — Big 12 commissioner Brett Yormark normally isn’t shy when it comes to sharing his opinion and making his thoughts known.
At the start of Big 12 Football Media Days on July 7, however, he dodged the first question directed his way regarding Texas Tech and controversial quarterback Brendan Sorsby.
“Let me start off by saying I appreciate the question, I appreciate other questions that are probably going to come forth today,” Yormark said. “Today is not the time to address that issue. Today is about celebrating the upcoming football season and celebrating our 16 schools, but I appreciate the question, so thank you.”
Yormark, who is entering his fifth year as Big 12 Conference commissioner, had plenty to say regarding potential College Football Playoff expansion and the proposed Protect College Sports Act, but aimed to shut down questions surrounding the Sorsby controversy and move forward.
Sorsby was the biggest story in college football in June, when he was granted an eligibility injunction from a local Texas judge. It cleared the way for him to play, despite initially being banned by the NCAA as a result of gambling approximately $90,000 over four years and placing impermissible bets on Indiana while he was a quarterback for the Hoosiers.
Texas Tech backed up its new transfer addition and was prepared to play him. The other teams in the Big 12 Conference voiced their disdain, with some prepared to protest and not play scheduled games against the Red Raiders.
In Iowa, the issue hit home, as Hawkeyes and Cyclones fans briefly put their rivalry aside, enraged at the series of events that seemingly had Sorsby unscathed. Back in 2023, several Iowa and Iowa State players were caught in a gambling probe that resulted in student-athletes having their eligibility compromised.
The Big 12 filed a federal lawsuit of its own, seeking the right to potentially enact its own punishments for Sorsby. However, it wasn’t needed.
Sorsby ended up leaving college football. The NFL declined to operate a supplemental draft, Sorsby’s attempts to play in the Canadian Football League were denied, and he is now preparing on his own for the 2027 NFL Draft instead.
If there is any remaining tension from the Sorsby saga, there didn’t appear to be anything obvious at Big 12 Football Media Days. Texas Tech coach Joey McGuire was in attendance with selected players, and they handled interviews and mingled with other coaches and players without issue.
“To bring a team together, shared success is part of it, but shared adversity brings you even closer,” McGuire said. “The last couple of months we had gone through some adversity. I do believe if you walked into our building every single day and you walked into the weight room and the workouts or school, you wouldn’t know that anything was going on. A big part of that has been Ben (Roberts) and Sheridan (Wilson).
“We met multiple times with them being our two captains, and really I’ve talked through this with those guys and how they felt and what we wanted to do.”
While Yormark didn’t address the issue directly, he did note that the conference will be taking measures to educate athletes and maintain the integrity of sporting contests.
“Integrity for the game is critically important,” Yormark said. “For all sports for this conference, we will continue to work with our student-athletes to educate them and to help guide them in this new environment.
“When I grew up, sports betting wasn’t as available as it is today. It’s a different world that student-athletes are growing up in, and they need to be educated, and that’s the role that we are taking alongside of our member institutions.”
‘More access’ with College Football Playoff expansion
How big does the bracket need to be?
The College Football Playoff expanded from four to 12 teams in 2024.
Apparently there’s still room for more growth.
Yormark would like to see 24 teams. In May, Big 12 coaches unanimously agreed on their preference for a 24-team field.
“I liked 16 initially,” Yormark said. “As I learned more about it, obviously, without the additional (automatic qualifiers), when 24 became part of the conversation, we’ve done our own conference due diligence around it, and we think it might be a great fit for us. We discussed it most recently in our spring business meeting with our coaches across the board. They liked it, and we continue to have those conversations with our ADs and our presidents.”
In this model, the top eight seeds would receive byes. A potential expansion to 24 teams may also do away with conference championship games.
“Is there a marketplace to go to 24?” Yormark said. “We have to understand the scheduling dynamic and what that means and the unintended consequences. As it relates to our championship game, I think I’ve said it before, that’s a huge tentpole event for us. We had over 85,000 attend last year, and our ratings were up 39%. It’s a big deal for us. There are economics that go with that champ game.
“So as we consider 24, we’ve got to look at what we have and what potentially we might gain and ultimately make the best decision for the Big 12, but everything is on the table.”
Scheduling challenges may arise as well. Does the full season, including the playoffs, run further into the year?
Despite the obstacles, finding a solution for a 24-team field might just be a necessary amendment in an ever-changing landscape for college athletics.
“We all have to be OK with the fact that the landscape is changing, college football’s changing,” UCF coach Scott Frost said. “There’s different strengths and schedules that people have. We’re all playing for something different now and that’s to try to get into the playoffs and win a championship. I think the more teams that get involved with that, the better chance you have at deciding that on the field and this is a deep conference.”
Government, legislative intervention with Protect College Sports Act
Yormark said he’s spent more time around Capitol Hill over the last four years than he had in his entire career in sports.
He voiced his support for the Protect College Sports Act. The current legislation working its way through the United States Senate.
In June, it passed a U.S. Senate Committee on Commerce, Science and Transportation with a 19-9 vote.
The PCSA has bipartisan support, with Democratic Senator Maria Cantwell and Republican Senator Ted Cruz co-sponsoring the bill, but it still has ways to go before becoming official.
Multiple conferences, including the Big 12, have publicly supported the bill, while others, notably the SEC and Big Ten, have significant issues with the legislation.
The bill sets new rules and provides new tools to stabilize college sports, including codifying athletes’ rights to earn compensation for their NIL, enshrining scholarships, scholarship and healthcare protections in law, reining in predatory agents and preserving and protecting the future of women’s sports.
Under the bill, all Division I schools have to maintain a minimum number of sports teams and roster spots.
Any college athletics department with more than $80 million in revenue – 74 major universities, including Notre Dame plus power-conference schools in the ACC, Big Ten, Big 12 and SEC – may not reduce the number of women’s and Olympic teams they field below 2024-25 numbers for nine years.
While Yormark does not feel it is perfect, he supports it and considers is a necessary landmark step.
He plans on being in Washington D.C., next week to further discuss the bill.
“When I look at the bill, and I’ve had lots of conversations with Senator Cantwell and Senator Cruz; in fact, I’ll be there next week, there was a lot of negotiation that was being done,” Yormark said. “I look at where we’ve landed right now as progress over perfection. Nothing is going to be perfect, but the question is, can we make progress? Are we better off with a bill than without one? When I think about some of the elements of the bill that I like, it starts with agent restrictions, which we need. Federal pre-emption, limited liability protection, the transfer portal, eligibility, cap circumvention, just to name a few.
“They’re not perfect as currently written, but they will help resolve some of the chaos that’s currently in the system and deliver a more stable model for collegiate athletics moving forward.”
Eugene Rapay covers Iowa State athletics for the Des Moines Register. Contact Eugene at erapay@gannett.com. Follow him on Twitter at @erapay5.
This article originally appeared on Des Moines Register: Big 12 commissioner Brett Yormark on Texas Tech, CFP expansion, PCSA
Reporting by Eugene Rapay, Des Moines Register / Des Moines Register
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By Eugene Rapay, Des Moines Register | USA TODAY Network
