Speaker 1: Yes, I'm here in Chicago, living for Minneapolis to get
the Rockets and Wolves going tomorrow night from the Twin Cities.
Ross Beck in Houston, and we are very happy to
have our next guest on our first time visitor of
the show and hopefully many many times because I found
it to be very fascinating. Uh, a out of the
box kind of commissioner. And he's representing our conference and
our school. Brett, you or Mark Big twelve commissioner here
on the Matt Thomas showld Ross, mister your market's Matt
and Ross, thank you for joining us. Uh, there's selfishly,
there's too.
Speaker 2: Much wait, hold on, hold on, you got to make
this less formal. You gotta call me Brett. Okay for starters, good,
And I gotta ask you why haven't I ever been
invited to join you.
Speaker 3: Guys before your media crew? Now I'm just kidding, justz. No,
you gotta let me tell you something.
Speaker 1: And this is honest, and you and I've never met
face to face, but I want to and I want to.
I'll ask you like nine hundred questions, but I'm getting
you for ten minutes here, so uh, but I.
Speaker 2: Want to ask me anything you want but I look
forward to meeting in person.
Speaker 1: Yeah, you know, we'll do We'll come to Big twelve
media day, but I want you to come sit with me,
do like a half an hour show, because I was like,
there's like five million things I want to ask you,
so in no particular order.
Speaker 2: I would love to do that, by the way, So well, we.
Speaker 3: Will make that happen. Uh.
Speaker 1: First of all, what has it been like you are
on out of the box commissioner to say the very least.
Is that always been your DNA? Or did you say
when I took the job, I got to do things
a little outside of covering the inside the lines.
Speaker 2: Well, it's a great question, and I will say that
historically wherever I've been and update myself a little bit.
You know, I was the CEO of the Brooklyn Nets
for sixteen years. I spent significant amount of time at NASCAR.
It's safe to say that I've been a bit of
a change agent. And in order to be a change agent,
you got to have the fortitude to look to break
boundaries thoughtfully, to innovate and take calculated risk. And I
think I've done a little bit of that here. When
I took this job at the Big Twelve from Afar,
I saw a conference that had great bones, but it
truly needed to be reimagined and repositioned. And thankfully I
worked for a great group of ads and a wonderful
board that has given me the latitude along with my
colleagues here at the Big Twelve Conference Office, to innovate
and to do things differently, and thankfully, I think it's
all paid off. I mean, listen, you don't bet a thousand,
but so far our record speaks for itself. I love
the tra directory of this conference. I love how we're positioned,
I love our profile, and I think it only gets better.
Speaker 1: You are clearly an advocate for everything in our schools,
now only here in Houston, but around the league. The
basketball side of thing has been absolutely amazing. Football was
certainly very intriguing this year. State of affairs.
Speaker 3: Overall, When you meet with your.
Speaker 1: Fellow conference commissioners, does it happen a lot? Do you
have chats? Do you have group text? Tell me how
aligned you are with the other commissioners and will that
remain the same or are you always keeping an eye
just to make sure everybody's behaving themselves and for the
greater interests of college Athletics.
Speaker 2: It's another great question. So I engage quite a bit
with my commissioner colleagues. And when I speak about my
commissioner colleagues, although I love all the commissioners specifically, I'm
referencing the power forward commissioners. We speak often, we meet
pretty often as well, and I engage individually with them
quite a bit, you know, throughout the week. I think
there is alignment across the board on what we want
for the for the system of collegiate athletics. We obviously
are in a period of change, and we have to
manage to that change, and we're spending a lot of
time together in order to do that. Is it fair
to say that there are times where we agree to disagree, certainly,
but I think everyone has a strong desire to try
to get this thing right and to do what's right
for not only our specific conferences, but for the system
of collegiate athletics. And that's what we work towards every day.
And there's a lot of moving parts, as you know,
and we're trying to make some significant progress, and I
think we are and I think there's more to come.
All right.
Speaker 1: We're in basketball modes I'm going to go to Basketball
n Cuba expansion of the tournament.
Speaker 3: Your initial thoughts about that.
Speaker 2: I've been pretty consistent. I do like expansion. I think
a conference like ours, you know, given recent realignment, needs access.
So you know, if you think about where we are today,
sixty eight going to seventy six, and that's just a
working number. Obviously there's been other numbers out there. I
like that, and the data and the analytics show that,
you know, the beneficiaries of that type of expansion would
primarily be the power for our conferences. So I feel
good about it now. Having said that, the economics need
to be right when you think about expansion. No one
wants any delusion. And if we expand for the men,
we have to do the same for the women. So
there's moving parts here, but I'm confident. I think we
can get there, and I'm hopeful that in the next
couple of months, you know, the NCAA will be able
to make an announcement that's positive and that we can
all rally around.
Speaker 1: How are you balancing your time? Are you going to
be dressing around? We got a lot of Big twelve
representations still in this tournament.
Speaker 2: Well, I move around a lot this past weekend. I
started in Oklahoma City, I saw Houston. I then went
to San Diego, I saw Arizona and in Kansas. I
then hopped over to LA to see Oklahoma State the
women's NCAA tournament. Then I flew home and I was
at TCU to see the women's play at home their
second round game. So I'm a big supporter of both
men's and women's. I've become very fond of the women's
game candidly, and we divide and conquer here at the conference.
So our goal is to support all of our schools.
And a couple of us are on the road, and
I'll get back on the road to see Houston and
Iowa State this week. And my colleague who runs men's basketball,
Brian Thorton, and will head out to San Jose to
support Arizona. So we're excited about this coming weekend, and
you know, our goal is to be obviously well represented
in Indianapolis.
Speaker 1: Can I give out your cell number because my Cougar
alums are continue to text me about looking for tickets.
Do you have any available for the general public right
now that you're not going to see They can reach
out to you, well, listen.
Speaker 2: Don't get my number. Don't get my number out. I've
got enough people that text and call me. I will
say that. You know, it's interesting. I'm very excited, you know,
for the for the fans in Houston, they've been great.
I've gotten to know them quite a bit. Obviously followed
Houston last year to the final four. We came up
a little short, but you know, a great part of
my experience was to get to getting to know many
of the fans. I remember when I was in Indye
and and Houston had to play Tennessee and Purdue. That
was a home game for those guys, and I remember
chatting with Kelvin saying, boy, I want that for you
next year. And thankfully he's got it. And I just
hope that, you know, the school and the fans all
rally around the team. They're so well deserving of it.
They've been so successful, they've they've been an elite, you
know player, you know when you think about college men's
college basketball. So I'm hoping the fans really really support
them this weekend at Toyota Center. So hearing that they're
having a tough time getting tickets is a good thing.
For me because hopefully they bought in advance and there'll
be a lot of red in that venue.
Speaker 1: Absolutely, I've got more from me and than my partner's
got a couple. Let me go to football real quick.
I'm going to take your lead on this. I love
sixteen teams, love twelve. Ending beyond that would kind of
get convoluted and messy and long. Have you changed your
opinion if you were to walk in with your fellow
commissioners and say, here's what we're going to do, what
do you want want it to be? How much guarantee
and how much you know, we were talking about the
group texting with other commissioners. How much is it changing
and how much frankly, does television play a role into
the future of college football playoff expansion?
Speaker 2: Well, let me tell you from this and again, I've
been pretty consistent last spring. You know, I was a
big advocate of, you know, no additional aqs in the
sixteen team format because I do believe we need more access.
Twelve isn't enough. There's some great teams that don't get in,
really really good teams. Having said that, you know, we
spend a lot of time, you know, the commissioners, you know,
and we did discussing format and I'm disappointed we couldn't
get to sixteen. I felt that was the right place
to land. And we'll continue those conversations starting with you know,
our CFP Spring meetings. Anything beyond that, I'm open to.
But I want to see the data, you know, I
want to see what is it mean? You know, what
are the unintended consequences? What are the changes that you
know you have to make in order to accommodate a
number bigger than sixteen? And I don't have the answers
for that, and that's the work that needs to be
done if we're going to consider anything beyond sixteen.
Speaker 4: Big twelve Commissioner Brett Yormark with us here on a
Sports Talk seven I and Brett, I want to bring
up one of your favorite topics. I'm sure in I
L of course, a lot has been talked about it
being kind of like a wild West situation right now.
What do you think as far as possible solutions, as
far as guard rails and who would implement them in
terms of agents getting involved in need, certifications of agents,
as far as like changes you think need to be
made long term for NIL.
Speaker 2: Listen, I want to start off by saying, you know,
there's there's good nil. You know those are that's when
a you know, obviously a student athlete can leverage their name,
image and likeness and partner with great brands that help
to you know, build and and amplify their profile. And
then there's pay per play. And we still have a
lot of manufactured nil right now in the system. And
I could talk for hours about it, but obviously I
think the College Sports Commission is doing a really good
job right now. You know, effectively, there's there. They're a
startup and they haven't even been in operation for twelve
months yet, and you know, I think they're doing an
admirable job. The CEO is totally dedicated to creating, you know,
the necessary guardrails in order for us to move forward
in a very positive way. But you know, everything's connected
in this industry. You know, when you think about all
the things that we're working on, whether it's federal legislation,
how to put guardrails around you know, manufactured nil, if
you will, there's just so much that you know, we're
dealing with right now, and I do believe they're very interconnected.
All of them, and as I said earlier, we're working
tirelessly I think as a as a commissioner group, but
also with our A D S and our boards to
make sure that we get this thing right and that
we move in the right direction. And that's what we're
committed to. And I know, you know, speaking on behalf
of myself, that I'm spending a lot of time listening
and understanding everyone's you know, points of view. You know,
there's lots of different key stakeholders here and trying to
move the ball forward in a in a in the
most appropriate way, and I'm very optimistic we can get there.
You know, the settlement, you know, rev share that that
just started last July. We've learned a lot over the
you know, the last couple of months, and we'll continue
to learn more moving forward, and we'll make the necessary
changes and adjustments that we have to. But I'm optimistic
we can get this thing right.
Speaker 4: How do you feel about the long term landscape of
donations in terms of a phrase we've used, donor fatigue.
Have you seen any of that or maybe it's more
on a program by program basis in terms of this
large influx of cash and how long that can sustain.
Speaker 2: Guys, listen, I love your bols and I don't want
to get into all these other subjects right now. We
could sit down, invite me for a nice lunch. I
don't eat a lot, and we can sit down and
talk a lot about this off the air. You know,
today's goal really was to talk about how great Houston is,
you know, the Big Twelve basketball brand in general, and
how we're going to show up this weekend and hopefully
in Indie. And I'd like to keep the conversation focused
on that right now, and more than happy to sit
down with you and have a really heartfelt conversation on
the industry and where we're going. Intendidly would love your input.
Speaker 1: I want the Cougars to win. I don't care about
anybody else, honestly. I mean, if it's Arizona Houston, that
would be I mean one for the ages, because, let
me tell you so like that stretch of games with
the Big Monday with Arizona, Iowa State, Houston and I
had great expectations going into this Big Twelve, but the
conference has even exceeded what I think even the average
fan college fan thought about it. I mean to have guys,
like Jay Billis and other respected national folks. Bill Raftery say,
the Big twelve basketball has been the best this year
in the country. That's saying something, especially with the great
pedigree that can be found most recently in the ACC
and the SEC.
Speaker 2: Well, that's our goal. Our goal has you know, last
year there was a lot of talk around the SEC,
and you know it was probably you know, well deserved.
And I know our schools are investing at a high level.
And you know, we over the last ten years had
been the best conference in America, you know. I now
you know say often if people listen with the second
best league outside the NBA, and we have performed that
way this year. For sure, our top end is as
good as it's ever been here at the Big Twelve,
and in fact, it's probably better than it's ever been.
Our ratings are indicative of how well we're playing. I mean,
our conference ratings were up over twenty percent this year.
We said an all time record for that championship game
in Casey, for our tournament between Houston and Arizona, over
three million viewers, up thirty nine percent. And the numbers
that just came out from the NCAA this yesterday on
the you know, on last weekend those ratings were up. So,
you know, basketball in general, college basketball is thriving and
we're at the center of it. And candidly, all eyes
have been on the Big Twelve this year, and for me,
this is an important weekend because my expectation is that
will show up obviously in a profound way in Indianapolis
and what they do new before that happens. But I'm
very optimistic.
Speaker 1: Last question, do you see college basketball expanding number of games?
You know, where they get to thirty eight forty? Is
that too much? Are you at the right spot right now?
Speaker 3: Could you do a.
Speaker 1: Game maybe to help out the nil stuff to a
loss er EXCENTI maybe making you know, I know they
have these multi level tournament type games. Do we see
more of that coming in the future for all schools,
not necessarily just the Big Twelve.
Speaker 2: You know, it's a great question. You know, we've never
talked about the game count in our conference. You know,
it's a long season right now, and you ask the coaches,
it's a very long season in fact, and you know
we have a tough conference schedule. We play eighteen games
last year, we played twenty this year's eighteen. I think
eighteen was the right number. So it's a long season
already and a very competitive one, so any change in
the amount of games is certainly something that I've not
heard yet, but I'm open to any discussion if it
comes up. I kind of like it where it is, candidly,
and I think it's probably a number that's going to
probably stay where it is, I think for the foreseeable future.
But again, open to any discussion if if anyone wants
to have it with me.
Speaker 1: Last question real quick on football. I love that the
Cougars play Texas Tech and Better and TCU. Does the
scheduling module on the football side allow that to happen
every single year or is that still very much a
work in progress.
Speaker 2: Well, it's a work in progress, and we are are
looking at, you know, what the next couple of years
will look like, moving forward and spending a lot of
time on scheduling between our head of football Scott Draper
and R. A. D. S. And you know, maintaining robberies
I think is critically important not only for the fans
but also ratings candidly, and you know, that's certainly something
that we're focused on. I do like Houston schedule next year.
I agree with you and listen. They they had a
heck of the season. Coach Fritz has done an incredible job.
You know, you never know until you start the season,
but it looks like they had a very successful portal.
And uh, he's building something really special there in Houston,
So you guys should be very happy about that as well.
Speaker 3: Uh, save travels to our city. We thank you for
the time. Hope.
Speaker 1: This is not our last visit with us, so we
want to visit with you down the road on a
couple of different.
Speaker 2: Things and reship. Lunch invitation. You give me a lunch
invitation and come and see you guys.
Speaker 3: Okay, perfect, Thank you very much, commissioner. We really appreciate it.
Bright you all much joining us here. Thank you very
much joining us here.
Speaker 1: On the show twelve fifty on Sports Talk seven ninety