Big 12 Extends Brett Yormark As Commissioner Of The Conference

The Big 12 Board of Directors has voted to extend Brett Yormark’s contract as the commissioner of the conference for an additional three years, keeping him at the helm until at least the end of the academic year in 2030.

The fifth commissioner of the Big 12 was still under contract until 2027, but his success in conference growth and competitiveness prompted the board to add an additional extension.

Sources: The Big 12 Board of Directors has agreed to a three-year contract extension with Commissioner Brett Yormark. The extension will run through 2030, as he’d originally agreed in 2022 to a five-year deal through 2027. pic.twitter.com/7HskLfnhqS

— Pete Thamel (@PeteThamel) May 6, 2025

Brett Yormark, who has a myriad of experience in the world of sports business and operations as an executive, became the fifth commissioner of the Big 12 Conference in 2022, taking over on August 1 of that year.

Yormark became commissioner of the Big 12 at the very beginning of a tumultuous realignment period for college athletics. When USC and UCLA left the Pac-12 for the Big 10, it triggered a chain reaction that saw the Pac-12 as we knew it dissolve, causing massive movement and realignment across the NCAA.

Two years after Yormark became commissioner, two of the Big 12’s biggest brands, Texas and Oklahoma, jumped ship and joined the SEC, leaving the Big 12 with only eight members, but Yormark and the conference quickly took action to remain competitive among the other power conferences.

Despite the loss, Yormark wasted no time recouping. In 2023 and 2024, the Big 12 added Arizona, Arizona State, Utah, and Colorado from the Pac-12, Central Florida, Cincinnati, and Houston from the American, and BYU from independence, replacing the two losses with eight new conference members.

The additions to a group of already proven teams showed extremely successful. In the final College Football Playoff poll of 2024, the Big 12 finished with three teams in the top 25, with Arizona State coming up just short against Texas in the College Football Playoff Quarterfinals. In basketball, five Big 12 teams were ranked in the final AP poll, and seven were in the tournament. Arizona, BYU, Houston, and Texas Tech made it to the Sweet 16, Texas Tech and Houston went on to the Elite 8, and Houston made it all the way to the National Championship Game before they fell to Florida.

Despite massive shifts across college athletics, Brett Yormark and the Big 12 have managed to maintain their competitiveness across all sports and competitions.

“On behalf of the Big 12 Conference Board of Directors, we are pleased to extend Commissioner Brett Yormark’s contract an additional three years past the remaining two years of his existing agreement,” said Big 12 Board Chair and Baylor President Linda Livingstone in a press release. “Since Brett took leadership of the Big 12 three years ago, he has been instrumental in guiding the Big 12’s expansion to include new member schools, and unifying the conference’s existing membership. Brett’s strategic thinking and creative initiatives have been vital to the Big 12’s success, and we look forward to building on this momentum in the years ahead.”

Brett Yormark on BYU/Utah in the Big 12: “It’s huge”

“It’s huge,” Yormark told KSL Sports at Big 12 Media Day in July.

“Even before we went to realignment and as we aspired to be a national conference, we talked about the possibilities. So many people said that the BYU-Utah rivalry could be fantastic in your conference. And these were just really casual fans. So I’m excited that it’s part of the league.”

“There are great rivalries from top to bottom in this conference…but at the top is Utah and BYU.” –@Big12Conference commissioner Brett Yormark#KSLBig12 #Big12 #GoCougs #GoUtes pic.twitter.com/Ggb8DHGOVk

— KSL Sports (@kslsports) July 10, 2024

Along with BYU/Utah, the Big 12 boasts Kansas/Kansas State, Baylor/TCU, and Arizona/Arizona State, among others, but it’s hard to compete with the intensity of the battle in the Beehive State.

“But at the top is Utah and BYU,” Yormark said.

It’s a league that needs as many marquee games in the post-Texas and Oklahoma world, with 16 teams.

BYU/Utah can emerge as one of the great games in the conference annually.

Saturday will be the 96th meeting between the in-state foes, but the first, where both teams are power conference teams.

It’s the start of a new era for a historic rivalry.

Tanner Tripp is a sports writer for KSL Sports covering all teams across the state of Utah. Follow him on X @tanner_tripp and Instagram @tanner.tripp here.

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