Brett Yormark continues to at least hint at the idea of further expansion for the Big 12 Conference. Most recently, his comments came to the Arizona Board of Regents, when he told them last week, “I always have optionality as a conference… I will continue when the time is right.”
The report, as noted below, came from Jon Wilner.
These comments come less than a week after the commissioner said during his virtual press conference, “When I took this job, I said the Big 12 was open for business and I guess you could say we’re open for business now more than ever before.”
When the Q&A portion of that press conference came up, I asked the commissioner if his statement meant he was actively exploring Big 12 expansion.
His answer, “No, I’m not. We explore every and all opportunity to create value for our members for our student-athletes. It’s what we’ve been doing since I onboarded and we’ll continue to have that mindset.”
“Open for business” is the infamous line from when Yormark took the job back in 2022, and he has used that line periodically during his time as Big 12 commissioner.
The fact that Yormark is being that upfront with Board of Regents around the Big 12 is a telltale sign he has something in mind, the question is just “Who?” and “When?”.
The obvious place to look and watch is the ACC, where two of its heavyweights, Florida State and Clemson, are actively exploring ways out of the conference. Most recently, Brett McMurphy reported that the two schools are “going to leave the ACC”.
This could create more opportunity for the Big 12. And while Yormark isn’t going to show his cards, he’s clearly keeping an eye on the situation to his East, just as he was looking to his West over the last 18 months.
During his tenure, which has been less than 24 months, the Big 12 has done nothing but be aggressive and expand, with the Four Corner schools of Arizona, Arizona State, Colorado and Utah set to join the conference later this summer.
