Brett Yormark calls basketball a catalyst for Big 12's future success

Much of the focus around college sports at the moment is the impending countdown of the college football season. Even so, Big 12 commissioner Brett Yormark isn’t afraid to say that the conference is preparing to put just as much focus on its basketball seasons moving forward.

Yormark joined Joel Klatt as a guest on this week’s episode of ‘Big Noon Conversations’. He said he is viewing basketball in the Big 12 as a “catalyst” for opportunities for the league to take advantage of moving forward, regardless of what it could or could not mean for them as far as their next television contract.

“It’s important to me because I think it can be a catalyst for a lot of things moving forward. I mean people think about my passion for basketball and they respond to it by saying, ‘Well, there’s not a lot of value to our media partners when it comes to basketball’. But it goes beyond that,” Yormark explained. “Basketball can be a catalyst for international expansion. And it can be a catalyst for a lot of the different growth opportunities that we’re vetting out. It’s not just the TV deal.”

“Do I think we’re undervalued? Certainly I do. Do I think there’s an opportunity down the road to maybe decouple football from basketball when we go back into that next TV cycle? I certainly do,” said Yormark. “No one has thought about it that way.”

The Big 12 is a healthy football conference but, arguably, may be even more so on the basketball court. Last March, seven of the league’s 10 teams made the NCAA Tournament. That’s not even including Houston as a new member for this season. In that context, the Big 12 had two of the four No. 1 seeds with the Cougars along with Kansas.

Of the three teams that missed in Oklahoma State, Texas Tech, and Oklahoma? The Cowboys nearly made it in with a winning record of 20-16, the Red Raiders went .500 at 16-16, and the Sooners, although with the worst record at 15-17, had a winning record before conference play and was one of six teams that defeated Alabama last year.

With that kind of resume to work with, Yorkmark has spent a lot of time speaking with the boss of the NBA to get his opinion. In the end, they both think that their success on the hardwood could continue to mean a lot for the league, especially within their younger audience.

“I have a lot of conversations with Adam Silver about the value of basketball. And how basketball truly is a global sport. The international flavor, the engagement,” Yorkmark said. “I will tell you that, from a Gen Z perspective? The demo we’re going after, that younger demo? They love basketball for a multitude of reasons.”

“He and I have spent a lot of time talking about it,” said Yormark. “He has given me a lot of guidance. And he believes I should double down on basketball, no different than I do, for all the right reasons.”

Football is a sport that will continue to dominate a large part of the narrative in the league, especially considering what part of the country it’s based around. Still, as far as the Big 12 as a whole, Yormark is focused on maximizing the league by building both sports into large parts of what the conference does well.

“That doesn’t mean we compromise football. We understand the value of football,” said Yormark. “But if I can grow football and grow basketball? I’ll be in a much better place long-term.”