Brett Yormark ‘thinks differently’ than other conference commissioners, benefits Big 12

Brett Yormark has been the Big 12 Commissioner for less than one full year. Despite that, he’s already become one of the most prominent figures in college athletics.

As On3’s Ivan Maisel explained during an appearance on McElroy and Cubelic in the Morning, Maisel explained that Yormark has found success because he’s different.

“Well, Brett Yormark thinks differently than the traditional college administrator,” Maisel said. “And that’s been a great benefit to the Big 12. I mean, he got a TV deal done, he got them, promoted their sponsoring of playground hoops in New York. I mean, he’s trying to get their name out there in a way that is very non-traditional.”

One of the major accomplishments that Brett Yormark managed was to land a new media deal. It’s worth $2.28 billion. Notably, he got that deal done much quicker than the Pac-12 was able to negotiate its new media deal, as the conferences look to show stability. The Pac-12 is still looking for its next media partner or partners.

Recently, Yormark even announced the Big 12 would distribute $440 million to 10 conference members for the 2022-2023 season.

Another common occurrence has been rumors that Yormark wants to expand the Big 12 again. The most recent rumors include schools like Colorado, UConn, and Gonzaga.

“And inviting a Gonzaga, luring Colorado, talking to UConn. Why UConn would do it — I live in Connecticut — UConn left the Big East once and it didn’t go very well. Why they would do that again is mystifying.”

As Maisel explained, this expansion comes from a desire to build a more national brand with the Big 12. It would also help with Yormark’s desire to be the premier basketball conference.

“But, anyway, Brett Yormark wants a national footprint and there’s nothing preventing him from getting it except the ability of his salesmanship and so far his salesmanship has been pretty good.”

Colorado and the Big 12 are rumored partners again

Colorado athletic director Rick George recently made an interesting statement. In it, he both seemed to commit to the Pac-12, for now, while opening the door to finding the best opportunity for the program.

“We’re members of the Pac-12, we’re proud members of the Pac-12 and we’ve got to see where our media rights deal lands and where our conference goes,” George said. “In a perfect world, we’d love to be in the Pac-12, but we also have to do what’s right for Colorado at the end of the day. We’ll evaluate things as we move forward.”

That’s not much of a commitment and has helped reignite realignment rumors. In particular, Brett Yormark and the Big 12 seem like a potential suitor.

That was then followed up with a report by Dennis Dodd of CBS Sports saying that Colorado and the Big 12 have had substantive talks. However, Colorado will likely want to know the Pac-12 media deal before making a move.

Pac-12 Commissioner George Kliavkoff had previously said Deion Sanders being at Colorado could help land a larger media deal.

All of this points to an interesting summer of conference realignment talks.