Adding four teams to the Big 12 is just the beginning of the conference’s recent expansion and the Cyclones welcome the new threats in one of the toughest conferences in the nation.
Big 12 Men’s Basketball Media Day brought along a discussion of the ever-growing conference and the future of one of the most highly touted conferences in the nation. BYU, UCF, Houston and Cincinnati have bolstered the reputation and reach of the conference.
The work from the second-year commissioner Brett Yormark has not gone unnoticed by Iowa State head coach T.J. Otzelberger.
“It’s great with Commissioner Yormark and his commitment to continuing to elevate what is the best conference in all of college basketball,” Otzelberger said. “We’re certainly appreciative for the work that he puts in.”
All four new teams and the ones that will join in 2024, Colorado, Utah, Arizona State and Arizona, bolster the competitiveness of an already heavyweight conference.
Otzelberger talked about what it means to play in the Big 12 and the preparation that goes into facing new and challenging teams in the conference.
“From my vantage point, we know we play in the best league in America,” Otzelberger said. “We know we’ve got to practice a certain way. We’ve got to have a process, a discipline, accountability to compete in this league night in and night out.”
Beyond adding teams to the conference, Yormark has also put an emphasis on working with TV networks to get Big 12 basketball aired nationally with last Fall’s approximately $2.3 billion deal with ESPN and Fox that goes through the 2030-31 season.
Yormark confirmed that with this new deal, he and his committee are working hard to make the most of it while considering the expansion of the conference. He informed the media that men’s teams will play around 20 conference games per season while also respecting rivalry games between newcomers to the Big 12.
Yormark entertained the idea of adding even more teams to the Big 12 and the importance of the sport, not just to the conference.
“If an opportunity presents itself for me to strengthen this conference I’m going to explore it,” Yormark said. “I think basketball is undervalued, but it goes beyond just monetizing it. No sport connects better with culture than basketball.”
Outside of the conference expansion and all the changes that come with that, Yormark still wants to keep something that is very important to the Big 12 the same.
Yormark shared his appreciation for the town of Kansas City, the atmosphere and what the fans brought in March during his first year as commissioner. He and the committee are working to finalize a deal to keep the Big 12 Championship at the T-Mobile Arena through 2030-31, which he hopes to get done in the next few months.
“Kansas City has been a great home for the Big 12 Championships,” Yormark said. “While nothing is definitive at this point, we are excited by the prospect of calling Kansas City ‘home’ for years to come. We hope to finalize this by the start of the basketball championships next spring.”
Last year’s members of the Big 12 Conference had seven teams qualify for the NCAA tournament, with future members Houston, Arizona and Arizona State also qualifying. With the conference having a bright future ahead of them, Yormark didn’t hesitate to share his thoughts on what the expansion means for college basketball as a whole.
“As we grow to a 16-team league, the best conference in basketball just got better,” Yormark said.
