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This week, the Big 12 received a great spotlight in Houston, and here’s why you should stop worrying about the College Football Playoff expansion and just accept the reality that the Big 12 won’t get what it wants.
THE BIG 12’S MOMENT IN THE SPOTLIGHT
ESPN’s basketball College Gameday was in Houston on Saturday for the Houston-Iowa State game. It was the second time in less than a month that the ESPN pre-game show was on site for a Big 12 game. The other time was at Iowa State.
How Did the Big 12 Perform on College GameDay?
What’s buzzing in the Big 12 and beyond? Every Sunday, I dive into all the latest updates in Postscripts over at Heartland College Sports — your go-to source for independent Big 12 coverage.
The Big 12’s Moment in the Spotlight
This past Saturday, ESPN’s College GameDay returned to the Big 12 spotlight as the pregame show aired live from Houston ahead of the much-anticipated Houston vs. Iowa State matchup. This marked the second time in just under a month that GameDay set up shop at a Big 12 venue — the previous visit being in Ames, Iowa.
The energy in Houston was electric. The Cougars’ fan base showed up big time, especially with tip-off scheduled just two hours after the show ended. The timing helped amplify the hype and showcased how much this moment meant to Houston.
And let’s be clear — Houston earned that spotlight. Since joining the Big 12 last season, the Cougars have only dropped four regular-season games — three of which came in their inaugural year. Head coach Kelvin Sampson, with past experience coaching in the conference at Oklahoma, has built a program that feels right at home in the Big 12.
Sampson received well-deserved praise on GameDay, as the show’s analysts collectively backed the Cougars as legitimate national championship contenders. Andraya Carter, in particular, made it known she’s been supporting the Coogs from day one.
Big 12 Commissioner Brett Yormark also made an appearance, spending nearly five minutes on air with the GameDay crew. He confidently promoted the Big 12 as the best basketball conference in the country — even while the SEC is statistically having a historic year.
“There’s never been a better time to be part of this conference,” Yormark said. “We’ve reimagined the Big 12 and we’re focused on creating long-term value for our schools and fans. The future’s bright.”
Yormark, dressed in a sharp suit, even brought up the idea of raising the bar in terms of how coaches present themselves on the sidelines. While most have stuck with quarter-zips since the COVID-impacted 2020–21 season, he’s toying with the idea of encouraging a return to suits — a subtle but symbolic shift in branding and identity.
The Big 12’s Kobayashi Maru
While GameDay brought energy and optimism, the rest of the week had a more sobering tone with College Football Playoff (CFP) expansion talks heating up again. Representatives from each conference are expected to meet this week to discuss potentially moving to a 14- or 16-team format.
According to Yahoo Sports’ Ross Dellenger, the SEC and Big Ten are pushing for an arrangement that grants their conferences four automatic bids each — leaving just two for the ACC and Big 12. Even more controversially, they want to eliminate automatic bids for conference champions altogether and rely solely on CFP rankings to determine seeding.
Yormark strongly disagrees with both proposals. He made it clear that the Big 12 should not forfeit the financial benefits tied to playoff byes. As he pointed out, Arizona State’s bye earned the conference an $8 million payday.
He emphasized that he’ll be “armed with data,” referencing internal models the conference has run to make its case. However, the power dynamics are unmistakable. The SEC and Big Ten hold most of the leverage — and they know it.
Last spring, both power conferences leveraged a “poison pill” strategy during negotiations. They demanded more control over the playoff format, even threatening to create their own system if not granted a larger share of the playoff revenue and decision-making power. In the end, the other conferences — including the Big 12 and ACC — had no choice but to concede.
This led to a memorandum of understanding (MOU), effectively handing the SEC and Big Ten primary control over future playoff structure decisions. While any changes still require unanimous approval, the two powerhouse leagues are clearly steering the conversation.
Yormark and ACC Commissioner Jim Phillips can bring facts, arguments, and even passion to the table. But in the end, if the SEC and Big Ten don’t get their way, they’ll simply take their football and play elsewhere — with the money in hand.
It’s not about giving up. It’s about recognizing which fights are winnable. This isn’t one of them.
So, what does the future likely hold?
Expect the SEC and Big Ten to walk away with four playoff spots each. The Big 12 and ACC? Probably two apiece. Automatic bids for conference champions? Likely gone.
The hard truth is that if the Big 12 wants more say, it has to prove itself where it counts — on the field. Arizona State’s recent run was promising, but the conference still lags behind in CFP victories. TCU remains the only Big 12 team to win a College Football Playoff game.
In college football, power follows performance — and the SEC and Big Ten are winning titles. Until that changes, they’ll keep setting the rules.
The folks in Houston put on a great show and the crowd was helped by the fact that the game was two hours after Gameday ended.
Houston deserved this spotlight. The Cougars have lost four regular-season games since joining the Big 12 last season — and three of them were last year. As I’ve written here before and talked about on the radio with Miller and Condon on KXNO in Des Moines, Iowa, the Cougars were already built like a Big 12 team because of coach Kelvin Sampson’s experience coaching at Oklahoma.
He received a well-deserved spotlight during Gameday.
The Gameday crew all agreed that the Cougars are national championship contenders, and Andraya Carter made sure to let everyone know she was on the Coogs from the start.
And, the commish was there. Brett Yormark got nearly five minutes with the Gameday crew to pump up the conference.
As one might expect, he’s bullish about the Big 12 and believes the basketball conference is the best in the country, even as the SEC is, by some metrics, having an unprecedented season.
“I look at where we’ve come from over the last two-and-a-half years, love how we’ve reimagined the conference, and most importantly, the future and where we’re going,” Yormark said. “There’s never been a better time to be part of this conference than right now. For our fans and for our schools, we’re in the value-creation business, so it’s something I spend a lot of time on, and I’m excited about where we’re going.”
He even weighed in on whether coaches should go back to wearing suits full-time as he wore a suit and tie on Gameday.
“This is my uniform,” he said. “I wear this every day, but I stepped it up today because I knew I was going to see JWill (Jay Williams). But I am discussing with our coaches to see if we can raise the bar a little bit and differentiate ourselves. It’s a work in progress.”
Remember that coaches were allowed to wear quarter-zips during the COVID season of 2020-21 and most have continued to wear them except in specific situation, such as cancer awareness campaigns.
It was a great day to be in the Big 12, even as ESPN asked him a pointed question about how the league will remain competitive. Our social media feed had a pointed response.
THE BIG 12’S KOBAYASHI MARU
Before Gameday, the week was dominated by talk of further expansion to the College Football Playoff. The conferences are expected to meet this week to discuss further exploration of either a 14-team or a 16-team format.
Yahoo Sports’ Ross Dellenger is probably the most authoritative voice on the process. Early in the week he published a long piece on how each conference was preparing for this week’s meetings. These meetings could be significant.
The Big Ten and the SEC is pushing for four automatic bids for their conferences, but only two for the ACC and the Big 12. They’re also pushing to do away with the automatic bids for conference champions and use the final CFP rankings to seed the CFP.
Yormark was not on board with either.
About the seeding, he said this: “I do not have the appetite to give up any financial reward that comes with a bye.” Arizona State got the bye after winning the Big 12 and it came with an $8 million check. That’s a great bonus.
On the format, Yormark said this: “I’ll be armed with data,” meaning that he’s been doing predictive playoff models on different formats to make the Big 12’s case.
This all sounds like there will be a give-and-take. But expect the Big Ten and the SEC to take, take and take.
Why? Because they’re in control of all of this. Here’s why.
Last spring, when the sides were having trouble reaching agreements on the future, both the Big Ten and the SEC pulled out a poison pill — they wanted an agreement that they could be in control of this, or they would go do their own thing. The two leagues wanted a majority of the playoff revenue and full authority over the playoff format.
The compromise was that all 10 leagues, and Notre Dame, handed over control of the format to the Big Ten and the SEC through a memorandum of understanding. While there must be complete unanimity in agreement over the future, the two leagues are driving the bus and carry an enormous amount of leverage.
So, Yormark can bring all the data he wants, and ACC commissioner Jim Phillips can bluster all he wants. But when this is done the Big Ten and the SEC are going to get what they want. Why? Because they’re in control and they know that if the sides don’t agree they can take the format, and the money, with them.
I’m not criticizing Yormark or Phillips for signing the MOU. The reality is they had no choice. Either you play along, or you lose millions, perhaps billion, in revenue long-term and each conference becomes irrelevant in the context of a playoff. It was a business decision. It had to be done. You must know what battles to fight. That was a battle neither was going to win. Neither will win this battle, either.
The Big 12 and the ACC will get their two playoff berths. The Big Ten and the SEC will get their four. There will be no automatic bids. I’m just preparing you for the reality.
Besides, if the Big 12 really wants to change the narrative, it needs to do what it should have started doing a decade ago — win CFP games. Arizona State’s run was thrilling, but TCU remains the only Big 12 team to win a CFP game. The truth is that’s the issue. The SEC and the Big Ten can set the agenda because they win titles. Period.
You can find Matthew Postins on Twitter @PostinsPostcard.
