If you want to piss off SEC fans, claim their conference isn’t the best in football. On Tuesday, as Big 12 Conference media days kicked off, league commissioner Brett Yormark accomplished just that. During his interaction with the media, Yormark made the case that the Big 12 is better than its peers.
Yormark spoke highly of the conference, even going so far as to claim Big 12 football is “the deepest conference in America,” according to Action Network college football insider Brett McMurphy. The conference continues to move forward despite the Texas Longhorns and Oklahoma Sooners set to move to the SEC. The Arizona State Sun Devils, Arizona Wildcats and Colorado Buffaloes are set to join the league next fall. BYU, Central Florida, Houston and Cincinnati will also join the conference in 2023.
Commissioner Brett Yormark praises conference depth
Brett Yormark, who will take over as Big 12 commissioner in 2022, believes the conference is better than others. During a media availability on Tuesday, Yormark called the league “the deepest conference in America” and said “every week matters.” The conference, which currently consists of 16 teams, will welcome back the Utah Utes, who have won 10 or more games nine times since 2003, and three other former Pac-12 teams next season. It added Mountain West powerhouse BYU and three longtime AAC teams a year ago.
Brett Yormark on the upcoming football season: “The Big 12 will be the deepest conference in America. Every week will matter.”
🗣️Trust me pic.twitter.com/yw4qSDlfDu
— Barstool Big 12 (@BarstoolBig12) July 9, 2024
Yormark continued, saying the league is “very balanced. We have a lot of star players. We’re a very deep conference and we’ve gotten even deeper. I think last year we frankly fell short of expectations…There’s never been a better time to be in the Big 12 than now. We’re more important than ever.” The conference commissioner praised the league for its football depth, despite losing Oklahoma and Texas last offseason. But Arizona and Colorado, who were a combined 7-17 last season, will move on to the Big 12. Meanwhile, Baylor, BYU and TCU are under .500 in 2023.
At the top of the conference standings, last season’s top teams, the Oklahoma Sooners and Texas Longhorns, will compete in the Southeastern Conference. Oklahoma won 10 games and Texas qualified for the College Football Playoff.
Big 12: Comparison with the SEC and Big 10
Yormark believes the Big 12 is the best conference in football, but the league hasn’t won a title since Vince Young’s Texas went 13-0 in 2005. The SEC, meanwhile, has won 12 titles in the past 20 seasons, while the Big Ten Conference, led by Ohio State and Michigan, has won two titles in that span.
The departure of the Texas Longhorns and Oklahoma Sooners could have significant implications for the current 16-team conference, which has struggled to qualify for the College Football Playoff. Only TCU and Cincinnati have played in the CFP from the conference, and the 1997 Nebraska Cornhuskers are the only teams outside of Texas and Oklahoma to win a Big 12 title.
Talent-wise, the league has also lagged behind other conferences in terms of Heisman Trophy winners, as the conference hasn’t had a Heisman winner since Kyler Murray in 2018. The last player outside of Oklahoma or Texas to win the Heisman while representing the conference was Eric Crouch in 2001 as part of the top-ranked Nebraska Cornhuskers.
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