MIAMI GARDENS, Fla. — Big 12 Conference commissioner Brett Yormark has always liked the idea of parity in his league. However, Yormark also knows that for a conference to be viewed in a different light, it needs to have a few teams stand out above the rest.
Yormark addressed the media Thursday at Hard Rock Stadium before the Texas Tech football team took on Oregon in the Orange Bowl. The Red Raiders’ run to the College Football Playoff was significant in many respects, especially with Joey McGuire’s squad jumping into the territory of earning one of the Top 4 seeds in the CFP field.
Arizona State did so last year, but with the boost of getting there as an automatic qualifier, something this year’s 12-team field does not have. Texas Tech didn’t need the propping up of seeding to get to the quarterfinals, and that’s something Yormark would like to see more of in the future.
“I said this at media day, parity is good,” Yormark said. “We’ve got great parity, probably the deepest conference in America. I’ve been saying that as well. And I also said that at some point in time, you need those outlier schools to separate themselves, and I think you start to see that a little bit this year with Tech and BYU.”
The Cougars joined the Red Raiders in Arlington for the Big 12 Championship Game, each with an identical 11-1 regular-season record. Texas Tech, again, proved to be the superior team, rolling to a 34-7 win in AT&T Stadium.
Yormark views those teams as examples of what high-quality programs should strive to achieve in the Big 12.
“Our schools are investing at a high level,” Yormark said. “And there were some great surprises this year. Arizona came out of nowhere. No one would have expected that. And we’ll see that happen next year.”
Yormark said he’s happy to see the Big 12 represented on the CFP stage this year by Texas Tech, but there are bigger things at play for the league.
“Just getting here isn’t enough,” Yormark said. “Our goal is to move on.”
