Brett Yormark expects Big 12 to be 'the No. 1 conference in America'

When Brett Yormark took the stage at his first Big 12 Media Days two years ago, he showcased his ambition by declaring the conference “open for business” right away. Plenty has changed since, including four new members joining the league this year in an ever-changing college football landscape.

But as Yormark said on the stage at Allegiant Stadium in Las Vegas, he’s happy. But he’s not satisfied, and after addressing the crowd of reporters in attendance, doubled down on that stance.

Yormark held a breakout session with reporters and spoke about his goals for the Big 12. He made it clear he still wants it to not only get better, but be the best.

“I will not stop until we are the No. 1 conference in America,” Yormark said, via Yahoo! Sports’ Ross Dellenger.

The Big 12 is starting a new era this year with the departures of Oklahoma and Texas to the SEC. The “Four Corners” schools of Arizona, Arizona State, Colorado and Utah are now in – with the Utes coming in as the preseason favorite in the league’s preseason poll.

Those additions are part of the reason why Yormark is so excited for the 2024 season. He went so far as to declare the Big 12 the “deepest conference” in the country, adding to the importance of each game.

“As you can tell, 2024-25 will be a very exciting year for the Big 12,” Yormark said. “On the football front, we will be the deepest conference in America. Every week will matter. I’m going to say that one more time. We will be the deepest conference in America. Every week will matter.

“We have star power and parity. We boast some of the top players and coaches in the game. November will be incredibly exciting and we will brand it as a race to the championship.”

After his opening statement, Brett Yormark added to those remarks. He pointed out the amount of talent coming back around the conference, which should add more juice to each week’s games.

“I think there’s a lot of parity,” Yormark said. “We’ve got 16 great coaches. We’ve got a lot of star power – you think about the quarterbacks, you think about the running back. Many of our programs have been building over the last couple of years. So I think it’s only natural and appropriate for us to think that way right now.

“We were a very deep conference last year. We got deeper now with the four corner schools. So I’m expecting great things from our schools this year.”