FRISCO, Texas — Big 12 Commissioner Brett Yormark wanted to talk Tuesday about the league's upcoming season, not the Brendan Sorsby gambling saga at Texas Tech that led to a lot of legal wrangling and a since-dismissed court order that had sent shockwaves through college sports.
Even though that was the first thing Yormark was asked about after his opening remarks at Big 12 football media days.
“I appreciate the question. I appreciate other questions that are probably going to come forth today. Today is not the time to address that issue,” Yormark said. "Today is about celebrating the upcoming football season and celebrating our 16 schools.”
Yormark later spoke about the conference “moving ahead as 16 strong.”
That would include Texas Tech, which the league and its other 15 members were discussing potentially punishing if Sorsby had indeed played this fall for the Red Raiders after the quarterback transferred from Cincinnati, another Big 12 school where he played the past two seasons.
Sorsby won't play even after being granted a temporary injunction against the NCAA last month that would have allowed him to remain eligible even after he acknowledged making thousands of impermissible bets worth at least $90,000 on college and pro sports. Those include some bets on his own team when he was a freshman at Indiana in 2022, which in past cases had led to players being banned from playing.
Sorsby later dropped his lawsuit against the NCAA, making him ineligible again, after the NCAA appealed the injunction and the Big 12 filed a still-pending federal complaint in U.S. District Court in Dallas. The conference was trying to preserve its ability to use the league's bylaws for possible sanctions against Texas Tech had Sorsby played this season.
One reporter asked Yormark why Texas Tech fans should believe comments about the league moving ahead as one. The reporter mentioned that the Big 12 last year targeted the school's tortilla-throwing tradition — passing the measure on a 15-1 vote — while Oklahoma State has an artificial noise exemption for students to bang paddles against the stadium pads along the sideline. He also mentioned Cincinnati, Sorsby's former school.
Yormark walked across the stage, then asked the reporter to stand up and repeat his question.
“I said we’re going forward as 16 strong, and that’s my answer to your question,” Yormark then responded.
More playoff talk
Big 12 coaches in May at the league's spring meetings unanimously agreed on their preference for a 24-team College Football Playoff. Yormark has also expressed his support of that, if the economics make sense in doubling the size of the current playoff field.
The CFP management committee — which includes Yormark, the other FBS conference commissioners and Notre Dame's athletic director — met last month in Denver for more discussions on the merits of expanding to 16 or 24 teams.
“I’ve said it before, more access is needed as too many great teams are still left out,” Yormark said Tuesday. “I’ve also said before we still need to work through the economics and scheduling and address any unintended consequences.”
Monster partner
Yormark announced a multiyear agreement with Monster Energy to be the entitlement partner for conference-controlled Big 12 regular-season football games, as well as men's and women's basketball.
Yormark said the partnership with the international energy drink brand is "built on the right brand and culture alignment. ... (and) will take this conference to places it has not been before.”
It will include a co-branded Monster Energy and Big 12 logo being featured on football and basketball jerseys, fields and courts, with additional integration across conference digital and social media channels. The company's first partnership in college athletics began last fall when the brand became the conference's official energy drink.
International appeal
The Big 12 is going international again this season, with another opener in Ireland and then the first-ever college game at iconic Wembley Stadium in London.
TCU will play North Carolina on Aug. 29 in the Aer Lingus Classic, where Iowa State beat Kansas State 24-21 to open last season. Arizona State and Kansas will then play in the Union Jack Classic on Sept. 19, when Fox is taking its Big Noon Kickoff show to an international game for the first time.
“I want to do the London game because college football is, at the end of the day, still about these players. It’s still about 18- to 22-year-olds and their experience in college and the memories they make, hopefully good memories," Arizona State coach Kenny Dillingham said. “Sending 105 college kids to London to experience something they may never experience again is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.”
The Sun Devils will go to London after they play at Texas A&M on Sept. 12. Kansas plays at home against Missouri the previous night.
Yormark said six Big 12 schools have campuses outside the United States, including a new Arizona State campus opening in London this fall.
“The Big 12 aims to be the most globally relevant conference in college athletics,” Yormark said. “Our brand of football travels. It’s fast, it’s dynamic, and it’s exciting. It resonates beyond our borders.”
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