Conference Realignment

CBS Sport’s Shehan Jeyarajah writes about new Big 12 commissioner Brett Yormark and his first Big 12 Media Days. I know that these are just words, but I appreciate Yormark not being coy when asked about expansion, “open for business.”

“One thing is for sure: there is no doubt the Big 12 is open for business,” Yormark said Wednesday during his opening remarks at Big 12 Media Days. “We will leave no stone unturned to drive value for the conference.”

Yormark also discussed wanting to rebrand the league and yes, the Big 12 has been stagnant for decades, as long as I’ve been blogging, it has seemingly done the same thing over and over.

“There’s an opportunity to nationalize this brand, to be more aspirational, to appeal to youth culture, to get younger and hipper,” said Yormark. “Those are the things I’ll be working on.”

And Yormark made it clear that priorty #1 is media rights:

“One thing is crystal clear: there is no higher priority than to best position the Big 12 for its upcoming multimedia rights negotiations,” said Yormark. “Everything we do must create momentum for these negotiations, as well as building the value of the Big 12 brand and business.”

I’m guessing that the idea of re-branding won’t resonate with some, but I’m a fan of trying to do something. It may not be fruitful, but it might benefit the conference. Doing nothing doesn’t do anything so let’s see what Yormark comes up with.

Jeyarajah also has a good notebook of additional items covered on the first day of the Big 12 Media Days.

Dallas Morning News’ Kevin Sherrington writes somewhat disappointed (?) that there was no big news broken yesterday.

The boldest thing he said all morning was that the Big 12 is “open for business,” though that shouldn’t necessarily be construed as a prescription for predatory practices. He acknowledged that he’s gotten a lot of phone calls, and any interested parties understand the Big 12′s position going forward. But, even as they’re “exploring all options,” he said, “There is not a definitive plan right now.”

No plan? Really?

“Nothing is imminent,” he said, “but we’re working hard to make sure that we position the Big 12 in the best possible way on a go-forward basis.”

I get that maybe there was supposed to be some juice, but honestly I never imagined that the Big 12 would announce adding 4 teams tomorrow, so I’m not sure about the expectation.

Football

Here’s the schedule for today with the Big 12 Media Days for Texas Tech:

Participants: Coach Joey McGuire, OL Caleb Rogers, WR Myles Price, OLB Tyree Wilson, DB Dadrion Taylor-Demerson
Television/Streaming: ESPN+
Schedule:
10:00-10:30 ESPN
10:30-10:40 Kid Reporter Program (C)
10:30-11:00 SiriusXM (P)
10:45-11:00 ESPNU Set (C)
11:00-11:15 ESPNU Set (P)
11:05-11:25 Coach Press Conference
11:15-11:30 Kid Reporter Program (P)
11:30-12:15 Photos/Digital (P)
11:30-12:00 Live Radio (C)
12:30-1:00 Lunch
1:00-1:15 Big 12 Social (C) 1:00-1:30 Live Radio (P) 1:30-2:00 CBS/LHN (C&P) 2:00-2:15 FOX Sports Room 1 (C)
2:30-2:45 FOX Digital (C)
3:00-3:30 SiriusXM (C) 3:30-4:00 FOX Room 1 (P)

  This is pretty great, Steve Wiltfong talking about Texas Tech’s class and Joey McGuire’s ability to recruit.

“Texas Tech can compete for Big 12 crowns. They can play in NY6 games. They’re gonna do it with great identification in-state.”

🗣️ @SWiltfong247 breaks down @TexasTechFB‘s success on the recruiting trail in the 2023 class.@TTU247 x @JohnsonJarret pic.twitter.com/iDPHqpxi77

— 247Sports (@247Sports) July 13, 2022

24/7 Sports’ Riley Gates ranks the Big 12 quarterbacks and Tyler Shough ranks #10:

After two seasons at Oregon, Shough hit the transfer portal and ended up at Texas Tech. His first year in Lubbock did not feature much time on the field, though. Shough threw for 872 yards, six touchdowns and three interceptions in just four games played, as he broke his collarbone. It looks like Shough could have a fresh start in Lubbock, but four games is too small of a sample size to feel great about his place on this list.

I think Shough will be better than 10th or whoever is playing quarterback.