Big 12 Commissioner Brett Yormark just dropped some major news at Big 12 Basketball Media Days: his league is ready to replace its valuable championship games if the College Football Playoff actually expands to 24 teams. He told reporters on Tuesday that while “nothing has been done yet with the College Football Playoff” and it’s “only speculation,” the league is already thinking about how to handle the massive shift. Yormark was crystal clear, saying, “tentpole events, for us, matter. Our championship game has been very valuable. Our basketball tournament, both men’s and women’s, has been very valuable.” If a change hits, he said, “we will look to backstop those events with other events. We’re in the event business.” Talk about being proactive!
The 24-Team Playoff: It’s Happening, Folks
It’s not just talk, either. ESPN’s Pete Thamel reported last Thursday that the CFP is “nearing a deal” to blow up the current 12-team format and go to 24 in 2027. This deal is expected to be signed in the “near future, pending final approvals,” according to Yahoo Sports’ Ross Dellenger. So, what does this actually mean? The regular season would still wrap up in late November. The first weekend of December? That’s for the classic Army-Navy game and the Heisman Trophy ceremony, both getting moved up a week. But here’s the kicker: a 24-team CFP needs an extra week for its opening round, which would feature eight games for seeds 8 through 24. That second weekend of December gets eaten up, leaving absolutely no room for conference championship weekend. Poof! Those games are gone. Dellenger even reported that the “new expansion contract is expected to soon be signed” after a few power brokers chatted with ESPN. The writing is on the wall, so Yormark’s moves to secure “tentpole events” better be in place by December 2027.
The Big 12’s Wild Plan to Replace Its Biggest Events
The Big 12 championship game isn’t some small-time affair. As Myron Medcalf noted, it’s a huge deal. Last year’s title game, where Texas Tech crushed BYU 34-7, pulled in 85,519 fans at AT&T Stadium. Not only that, the game averaged a whopping 8.99 million viewers on ABC, peaking at 11.4 million, according to Jon Lewis of Sports Media Watch. That’s insane viewership! Losing an event with that kind of fan engagement and eyeballs is a massive blow, but Yormark sounds ready for it. “If for some reason, if one goes away, we’ll replace it with something different,” he said. What he’s thinking is still up in the air, but an expanded playoff would actually be a huge win for the conference in terms of getting teams into the postseason. If the 24-team format had been in place last year, four more Big 12 teams, BYU, Houston, Arizona, and Utah, would have made the cut. That’s a game-changer!
Big 12 football is looking pretty good right now, too. BYU just pulled off a massive upset, beating No. 2 Notre Dame and rocketing up to No. 2 in the polls themselves! Five Big 12 teams are currently ranked in the Top 25: No. 8 Texas Tech, No. 10 Utah, No. 14 Houston, and No. 25 Arizona. With a new CFP deal “expected to soon be signed” and the potential for a whole lot more Big 12 teams in the playoff picture, you know Yormark and the league are already plotting their next big move. Get ready, because college football is about to get even wilder, and the Big 12 isn’t going to be left behind.
This article was created with AI assistance and published under Seattle On Tap’s editorial standards. See our Editorial Policy.
Originally reported by Bleacher Report.
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