Texas Tech represents the best chance for Brett Yormark to get what he actually wants for the Big 12

Before Saturday’s Big 12 Championship Game featuring Texas Tech and BYU, conference commissioner Brett Yormark played the hits. One of his chief objectives was to raise awareness of the Cougars’ case for making the College Football Playoff regardless of the outcome in Dallas.

Of course, Yormark would have that opinion. His main goal is to stump for the Big 12 and try to generate as much respect for his conference nationally. What’s better than one representative in the CFP? Two.

Regardless of where you stood on BYU’s position in the CFP rankings entering the weekend — and, honestly, the Cougars had a solid case — that talking point is probably going to fall on deaf ears after Texas Tech blew them off the field for the second time this season.

But guess what? This is better for the Big 12. It might not seem like it right now, but it is. Why? Because the only way for the Big 12 to actually earn any real national respect is for one of its programs to become legitimate the hard way — by beating elite teams with the entire country watching. Not by winning narrative wars. Not by propaganda. By taking it.

That team is Texas Tech, the program that poured roughly $30 million into its roster and can stand toe-to-toe with anyone. Yes, BYU put up a good fight for nearly a half, but as the game went on, it became clear that these two teams are different. Texas Tech has more in common with Ohio State than it does with BYU. Period.

Imagine if the exact opposite had happened. What if BYU had won the Big 12, handing Texas Tech its second loss? Yes, Yormark might have been pleased in the moment. Yay for two Big 12 teams in the CFP! But neither of them would have been taken seriously as national title contenders — quality over quantity.

What’s better than having two teams in the CFP? Having one that could win it.

Texas Tech could actually win it. Want to talk about the eye test? How was that?

Yormark pointed out before the game that no power team finishing the regular season at 11-1 ended up outside the top 10. The CFP Committee ranked BYU No. 11 on Tuesday. It was a gross injustice in his eyes, especially because the Cougars had wins over No. 15 Utah and No. 18 Arizona and were ranked below several two-loss teams. It is a compelling argument, truly.

But we have to admit that the Big 12 hasn’t arrived yet. Since the Big 12 lost Oklahoma and Texas — traditional national powers who were actually regarded as teams capable of winning it all — the conference (whether you like it or not) is considered closer to a Group of 5 conference than to the SEC. Five years ago, if BYU had won the Big 12, it would have been credited with going through Texas or Oklahoma. That doesn’t exist anymore.

Texas Tech has a real chance to bring that back. The Red Raiders are investing like a national power. And when a program invests that way, the results follow. You get a really, really good team.

At Big 12 Media Days during the summer, Yormark said his ultimate dream was for a few programs in his conference to separate from the pack and become national powers. The translation to that: The Big 12 needs a few programs to step in and become Texas and/or Oklahoma.

That seemed far-fetched at the time because it takes years of history and positive results to build that cachet. But in this new era of college football, where money can actually impact the results? Texas Tech has a legitimate shot of doing it.

So good for the Big 12 that it has a team that scares Georgia and Ohio State.

Had BYU won Saturday, that wouldn’t have been the case.

Texas Tech played its way into a CFP bye, but once the tournament begins, the Red Raiders have to actually win some games with the whole world watching. The job isn’t over.

But this is the real path for the Big 12 to earn the respect it so desires. Maybe down the line, when other teams are in BYU’s situation, they’ll be taken more seriously.