Brett Yormark declares Big 12 football 'will be the deepest conference in America'

During his annual address Tuesday at Big 12 football media days from Allegiant Stadium in Las Vegas, commissioner Brett Yormark discussed a variety of topics, ranging from the Big 12 positioning itself as one of the top three conferences in the country and being second in social media following on X (formerly Twitter) and Instagram.

His biggest claim — which he made sure to emphasize twice — is that the new-look, 16-school conference will have the most intrigue in the country throughout the year.

"One the football front," Yormark said, "we will be the deepest conference in America, and every week will matter."

Yormark used last year's race to the Big 12 championship game in Arlington as a measuring stick. Last year, the final spot in the title clash was still in question during the last week of the regular season due to the conference's headache-inducing tiebreaking criteria, which wasn't fully cleared up until late in the regular season.

The two championship spots ultimately went to Texas and Oklahoma State, the Longhorns emerging with the victory and using it to book a spot in the College Football Playoff. Texas, along with Oklahoma, are no longer part of the Big 12's equation, which opens the door for a variety of teams to compete for the title.

Yormark proclaimed as many as 10 teams could be vying for this year's conference championship and, he hopes, the Big 12 could see up to four squads in the CFP.

"We have star power and parity," Yormark said. "... November will be incredibly exciting, and we will brand it as a race to the championship."

The Big 12 sent nine teams to bowl games last year, which tied a conference record. Despite this, Yormark said he felt the conference as a whole underachieved after it went 5-4 in those games.

"I don't think that'll be the case this year," Yormark said.