MIAMI GARDENS, Fla. — Big 12 commissioner Brett Yormark, a businessman through and through, did what he does best and big-upped one of his member schools.
“The best part of today is I can be a fan,” Yormark said Thursday inside Hard Rock Stadium an hour before the Orange Bowl kicked off. “When you do conference play, you’ve got to be neutral. As you can see, I’m wearing a red tie, so I’m all in on the Red Raiders today.”
The fact that his tie wasn’t quite the correct shade of red — it was more so “tinted toward burgundy” as he described it — mattered less to him than the opportunity that lied ahead for Texas Tech as the Big 12 further tries to certify itself as a power in a fast-changing landscape.
He talked about that, too, before the start of the College Football Playoff quarterfinals.
Texas College Sports
Playoff expansion
Yormark reiterated that he is in favor of playoff expansion, from 12 teams to 16 teams, and said that he and other power conference commissioners will meet potentially multiple times before the Jan. 23 deadline to reach an agreement.
“We’ll see what we can do — or not — for next year,” Yormark said. “I know everyone has been working hard. There’s a lot of nuances to it and we’re working through that.”
Yormark supports a 16-team model that includes five automatic bids for conference champions. He said that the commissioners have “got to examine” whether additional on-campus playoff games will be included in any expansion plans but added that “everything is on the table.”
The current format’s first-round games, all held at the higher seed’s home stadium, drew rave reviews for their environment and atmosphere. The quarterfinals and beyond are held in traditional bowl venues.
“The first round games have been fantastic in every respect,” Yormark said, “and I think it’s a differentiator for us. … The commissioners are going to have to think through, ‘Can we do this beyond the first round?’”
Yormark believes that any changes made to the playoff structure should remain untouched for the foreseeable future.
“Hopefully we can come together and, whatever that change may look like, we can get there sooner or later,” Yormark said. “If we stay at 12, I’m happy with that, too.”
The calendar conundrum
Oregon head coach Dan Lanning said Tuesday that college football’s national championship game should be played on New Year’s Day in an effort to avoid conflict with the transfer portal and staff upheaval. Yormark acknowledged that any discussion of a revamped bowl seasons revolves around the sport’s much maligned calendar.
The calendar as it stands compresses the early national signing period (Dec. 3-5), the start of the playoffs (Dec. 19), the opening of the transfer portal (Jan. 2) and the national championship game (Jan. 19) into a month-and-a-half period and causes roster management to interfere with postseason competition.
Several coaches nationwide — including Texas Tech head coach Joey McGuire — have already signaled a need for change. McGuire said that every team should play Week 0, a champion should be crowned by Jan. 1 and that bowl games should move to the start of the season.
“How do we work together to figure out the calendar?” Yormark said. “It’s a little clunky for sure. I’m relatively new still to the system but it needs to probably be modified and we’re going to work on that.”
The business side of things
Yormark is confident that there will be a participation agreement in place between the College Sports Commission and universities “sooner than later.”
The CSC, an enforcement agency launched in July after the House settlement allowed schools to spend up to $20.5 million in direct payments to athletes, asked schools under its direction to waive their right to challenge any punishments that may arise as it investigates those who break name, image and likeness rules.
The membership agreement was sent out in November and will not go into effect unless all power conference schools sign.
Texas attorney general Ken Paxton sent a letter to in-state universities that urged them not to sign the agreement because it “gives practically unlimited authority” and “undermines” schools. Yormark said that they’ve addressed the concerns of different attorneys general.
“I’m confident that once we make the necessary adjustments that, one, it will have teeth to it, the participation agreement,” Yormark said. “But most importantly, that everyone signs it, and I’m very confident that will happen.”
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