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Speaker 1: Yes, I'm here in Chicago, living for Minneapolis to get

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the Rockets and Wolves going tomorrow night from the Twin Cities.

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Ross Beck in Houston, and we are very happy to

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have our next guest on our first time visitor of

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the show and hopefully many many times because I found

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it to be very fascinating. Uh, a out of the

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box kind of commissioner. And he's representing our conference and

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our school. Brett, you or Mark Big twelve commissioner here

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on the Matt Thomas showld Ross, mister your market's Matt

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and Ross, thank you for joining us. Uh, there's selfishly,

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there's too.

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Speaker 2: Much wait, hold on, hold on, you got to make

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this less formal. You gotta call me Brett. Okay for starters, good,

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And I gotta ask you why haven't I ever been

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invited to join you.

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Speaker 3: Guys before your media crew? Now I'm just kidding, justz. No,

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you gotta let me tell you something.

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Speaker 1: And this is honest, and you and I've never met

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face to face, but I want to and I want to.

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I'll ask you like nine hundred questions, but I'm getting

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you for ten minutes here, so uh, but I.

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Speaker 2: Want to ask me anything you want but I look

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forward to meeting in person.

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Speaker 1: Yeah, you know, we'll do We'll come to Big twelve

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media day, but I want you to come sit with me,

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do like a half an hour show, because I was like,

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there's like five million things I want to ask you,

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so in no particular order.

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Speaker 2: I would love to do that, by the way, So well, we.

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Speaker 3: Will make that happen. Uh.

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Speaker 1: First of all, what has it been like you are

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on out of the box commissioner to say the very least.

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Is that always been your DNA? Or did you say

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when I took the job, I got to do things

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a little outside of covering the inside the lines.

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Speaker 2: Well, it's a great question, and I will say that

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historically wherever I've been and update myself a little bit.

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You know, I was the CEO of the Brooklyn Nets

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for sixteen years. I spent significant amount of time at NASCAR.

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It's safe to say that I've been a bit of

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a change agent. And in order to be a change agent,

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you got to have the fortitude to look to break

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boundaries thoughtfully, to innovate and take calculated risk. And I

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think I've done a little bit of that here. When

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I took this job at the Big Twelve from Afar,

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I saw a conference that had great bones, but it

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truly needed to be reimagined and repositioned. And thankfully I

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worked for a great group of ads and a wonderful

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board that has given me the latitude along with my

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colleagues here at the Big Twelve Conference Office, to innovate

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and to do things differently, and thankfully, I think it's

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all paid off. I mean, listen, you don't bet a thousand,

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but so far our record speaks for itself. I love

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the tra directory of this conference. I love how we're positioned,

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I love our profile, and I think it only gets better.

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Speaker 1: You are clearly an advocate for everything in our schools,

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now only here in Houston, but around the league. The

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basketball side of thing has been absolutely amazing. Football was

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certainly very intriguing this year. State of affairs.

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Speaker 3: Overall, When you meet with your.

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Speaker 1: Fellow conference commissioners, does it happen a lot? Do you

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have chats? Do you have group text? Tell me how

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aligned you are with the other commissioners and will that

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remain the same or are you always keeping an eye

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just to make sure everybody's behaving themselves and for the

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greater interests of college Athletics.

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Speaker 2: It's another great question. So I engage quite a bit

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with my commissioner colleagues. And when I speak about my

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commissioner colleagues, although I love all the commissioners specifically, I'm

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referencing the power forward commissioners. We speak often, we meet

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pretty often as well, and I engage individually with them

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quite a bit, you know, throughout the week. I think

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there is alignment across the board on what we want

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for the for the system of collegiate athletics. We obviously

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are in a period of change, and we have to

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manage to that change, and we're spending a lot of

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time together in order to do that. Is it fair

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to say that there are times where we agree to disagree, certainly,

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but I think everyone has a strong desire to try

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to get this thing right and to do what's right

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for not only our specific conferences, but for the system

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of collegiate athletics. And that's what we work towards every day.

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And there's a lot of moving parts, as you know,

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and we're trying to make some significant progress, and I

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think we are and I think there's more to come.

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All right.

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Speaker 1: We're in basketball modes I'm going to go to Basketball

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n Cuba expansion of the tournament.

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Speaker 3: Your initial thoughts about that.

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Speaker 2: I've been pretty consistent. I do like expansion. I think

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a conference like ours, you know, given recent realignment, needs access.

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So you know, if you think about where we are today,

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sixty eight going to seventy six, and that's just a

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working number. Obviously there's been other numbers out there. I

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like that, and the data and the analytics show that,

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you know, the beneficiaries of that type of expansion would

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primarily be the power for our conferences. So I feel

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good about it now. Having said that, the economics need

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to be right when you think about expansion. No one

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wants any delusion. And if we expand for the men,

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we have to do the same for the women. So

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there's moving parts here, but I'm confident. I think we

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can get there, and I'm hopeful that in the next

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couple of months, you know, the NCAA will be able

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to make an announcement that's positive and that we can

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all rally around.

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Speaker 1: How are you balancing your time? Are you going to

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be dressing around? We got a lot of Big twelve

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representations still in this tournament.

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Speaker 2: Well, I move around a lot this past weekend. I

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started in Oklahoma City, I saw Houston. I then went

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to San Diego, I saw Arizona and in Kansas. I

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then hopped over to LA to see Oklahoma State the

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women's NCAA tournament. Then I flew home and I was

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at TCU to see the women's play at home their

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second round game. So I'm a big supporter of both

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men's and women's. I've become very fond of the women's

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game candidly, and we divide and conquer here at the conference.

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So our goal is to support all of our schools.

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And a couple of us are on the road, and

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I'll get back on the road to see Houston and

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Iowa State this week. And my colleague who runs men's basketball,

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Brian Thorton, and will head out to San Jose to

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support Arizona. So we're excited about this coming weekend, and

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you know, our goal is to be obviously well represented

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in Indianapolis.

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Speaker 1: Can I give out your cell number because my Cougar

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alums are continue to text me about looking for tickets.

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Do you have any available for the general public right

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now that you're not going to see They can reach

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out to you, well, listen.

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Speaker 2: Don't get my number. Don't get my number out. I've

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got enough people that text and call me. I will

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say that. You know, it's interesting. I'm very excited, you know,

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for the for the fans in Houston, they've been great.

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I've gotten to know them quite a bit. Obviously followed

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Houston last year to the final four. We came up

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a little short, but you know, a great part of

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my experience was to get to getting to know many

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of the fans. I remember when I was in Indye

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and and Houston had to play Tennessee and Purdue. That

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was a home game for those guys, and I remember

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chatting with Kelvin saying, boy, I want that for you

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next year. And thankfully he's got it. And I just

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hope that, you know, the school and the fans all

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rally around the team. They're so well deserving of it.

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They've been so successful, they've they've been an elite, you

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know player, you know when you think about college men's

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college basketball. So I'm hoping the fans really really support

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them this weekend at Toyota Center. So hearing that they're

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having a tough time getting tickets is a good thing.

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For me because hopefully they bought in advance and there'll

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be a lot of red in that venue.

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Speaker 1: Absolutely, I've got more from me and than my partner's

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got a couple. Let me go to football real quick.

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I'm going to take your lead on this. I love

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sixteen teams, love twelve. Ending beyond that would kind of

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get convoluted and messy and long. Have you changed your

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opinion if you were to walk in with your fellow

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commissioners and say, here's what we're going to do, what

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do you want want it to be? How much guarantee

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and how much you know, we were talking about the

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group texting with other commissioners. How much is it changing

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and how much frankly, does television play a role into

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the future of college football playoff expansion?

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Speaker 2: Well, let me tell you from this and again, I've

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been pretty consistent last spring. You know, I was a

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big advocate of, you know, no additional aqs in the

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sixteen team format because I do believe we need more access.

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Twelve isn't enough. There's some great teams that don't get in,

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really really good teams. Having said that, you know, we

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spend a lot of time, you know, the commissioners, you know,

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and we did discussing format and I'm disappointed we couldn't

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get to sixteen. I felt that was the right place

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to land. And we'll continue those conversations starting with you know,

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our CFP Spring meetings. Anything beyond that, I'm open to.

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But I want to see the data, you know, I

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want to see what is it mean? You know, what

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are the unintended consequences? What are the changes that you

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know you have to make in order to accommodate a

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number bigger than sixteen? And I don't have the answers

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for that, and that's the work that needs to be

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done if we're going to consider anything beyond sixteen.

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Speaker 4: Big twelve Commissioner Brett Yormark with us here on a

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Sports Talk seven I and Brett, I want to bring

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up one of your favorite topics. I'm sure in I

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L of course, a lot has been talked about it

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being kind of like a wild West situation right now.

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What do you think as far as possible solutions, as

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far as guard rails and who would implement them in

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terms of agents getting involved in need, certifications of agents,

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as far as like changes you think need to be

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made long term for NIL.

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Speaker 2: Listen, I want to start off by saying, you know,

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there's there's good nil. You know those are that's when

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a you know, obviously a student athlete can leverage their name,

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image and likeness and partner with great brands that help

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to you know, build and and amplify their profile. And

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then there's pay per play. And we still have a

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lot of manufactured nil right now in the system. And

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I could talk for hours about it, but obviously I

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think the College Sports Commission is doing a really good

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job right now. You know, effectively, there's there. They're a

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startup and they haven't even been in operation for twelve

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months yet, and you know, I think they're doing an

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admirable job. The CEO is totally dedicated to creating, you know,

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the necessary guardrails in order for us to move forward

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in a very positive way. But you know, everything's connected

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in this industry. You know, when you think about all

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the things that we're working on, whether it's federal legislation,

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how to put guardrails around you know, manufactured nil, if

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you will, there's just so much that you know, we're

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dealing with right now, and I do believe they're very interconnected.

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All of them, and as I said earlier, we're working

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tirelessly I think as a as a commissioner group, but

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also with our A D S and our boards to

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make sure that we get this thing right and that

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we move in the right direction. And that's what we're

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committed to. And I know, you know, speaking on behalf

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of myself, that I'm spending a lot of time listening

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and understanding everyone's you know, points of view. You know,

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there's lots of different key stakeholders here and trying to

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move the ball forward in a in a in the

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most appropriate way, and I'm very optimistic we can get there.

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You know, the settlement, you know, rev share that that

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just started last July. We've learned a lot over the

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you know, the last couple of months, and we'll continue

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to learn more moving forward, and we'll make the necessary

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changes and adjustments that we have to. But I'm optimistic

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we can get this thing right.

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Speaker 4: How do you feel about the long term landscape of

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donations in terms of a phrase we've used, donor fatigue.

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Have you seen any of that or maybe it's more

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on a program by program basis in terms of this

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large influx of cash and how long that can sustain.

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Speaker 2: Guys, listen, I love your bols and I don't want

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to get into all these other subjects right now. We

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could sit down, invite me for a nice lunch. I

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don't eat a lot, and we can sit down and

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talk a lot about this off the air. You know,

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today's goal really was to talk about how great Houston is,

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you know, the Big Twelve basketball brand in general, and

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how we're going to show up this weekend and hopefully

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in Indie. And I'd like to keep the conversation focused

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on that right now, and more than happy to sit

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down with you and have a really heartfelt conversation on

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the industry and where we're going. Intendidly would love your input.

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Speaker 1: I want the Cougars to win. I don't care about

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anybody else, honestly. I mean, if it's Arizona Houston, that

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would be I mean one for the ages, because, let

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me tell you so like that stretch of games with

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the Big Monday with Arizona, Iowa State, Houston and I

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had great expectations going into this Big Twelve, but the

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conference has even exceeded what I think even the average

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fan college fan thought about it. I mean to have guys,

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like Jay Billis and other respected national folks. Bill Raftery say,

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the Big twelve basketball has been the best this year

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in the country. That's saying something, especially with the great

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pedigree that can be found most recently in the ACC

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and the SEC.

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Speaker 2: Well, that's our goal. Our goal has you know, last

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year there was a lot of talk around the SEC,

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and you know it was probably you know, well deserved.

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And I know our schools are investing at a high level.

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And you know, we over the last ten years had

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been the best conference in America, you know. I now

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you know say often if people listen with the second

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best league outside the NBA, and we have performed that

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way this year. For sure, our top end is as

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good as it's ever been here at the Big Twelve,

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and in fact, it's probably better than it's ever been.

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Our ratings are indicative of how well we're playing. I mean,

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our conference ratings were up over twenty percent this year.

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We said an all time record for that championship game

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in Casey, for our tournament between Houston and Arizona, over

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three million viewers, up thirty nine percent. And the numbers

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that just came out from the NCAA this yesterday on

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the you know, on last weekend those ratings were up. So,

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you know, basketball in general, college basketball is thriving and

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we're at the center of it. And candidly, all eyes

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have been on the Big Twelve this year, and for me,

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this is an important weekend because my expectation is that

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will show up obviously in a profound way in Indianapolis

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and what they do new before that happens. But I'm

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very optimistic.

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Speaker 1: Last question, do you see college basketball expanding number of games?

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You know, where they get to thirty eight forty? Is

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that too much? Are you at the right spot right now?

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Speaker 3: Could you do a.

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Speaker 1: Game maybe to help out the nil stuff to a

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loss er EXCENTI maybe making you know, I know they

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have these multi level tournament type games. Do we see

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more of that coming in the future for all schools,

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not necessarily just the Big Twelve.

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Speaker 2: You know, it's a great question. You know, we've never

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talked about the game count in our conference. You know,

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it's a long season right now, and you ask the coaches,

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it's a very long season in fact, and you know

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we have a tough conference schedule. We play eighteen games

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last year, we played twenty this year's eighteen. I think

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eighteen was the right number. So it's a long season

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already and a very competitive one, so any change in

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the amount of games is certainly something that I've not

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heard yet, but I'm open to any discussion if it

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comes up. I kind of like it where it is, candidly,

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and I think it's probably a number that's going to

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probably stay where it is, I think for the foreseeable future.

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But again, open to any discussion if if anyone wants

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to have it with me.

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Speaker 1: Last question real quick on football. I love that the

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Cougars play Texas Tech and Better and TCU. Does the

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scheduling module on the football side allow that to happen

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every single year or is that still very much a

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work in progress.

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Speaker 2: Well, it's a work in progress, and we are are

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looking at, you know, what the next couple of years

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will look like, moving forward and spending a lot of

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time on scheduling between our head of football Scott Draper

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and R. A. D. S. And you know, maintaining robberies

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I think is critically important not only for the fans

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but also ratings candidly, and you know, that's certainly something

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that we're focused on. I do like Houston schedule next year.

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I agree with you and listen. They they had a

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heck of the season. Coach Fritz has done an incredible job.

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You know, you never know until you start the season,

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but it looks like they had a very successful portal.

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And uh, he's building something really special there in Houston,

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So you guys should be very happy about that as well.

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Speaker 3: Uh, save travels to our city. We thank you for

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the time. Hope.

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Speaker 1: This is not our last visit with us, so we

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want to visit with you down the road on a

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couple of different.

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Speaker 2: Things and reship. Lunch invitation. You give me a lunch

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invitation and come and see you guys.

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Speaker 3: Okay, perfect, Thank you very much, commissioner. We really appreciate it.

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Bright you all much joining us here. Thank you very

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much joining us here.

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Speaker 1: On the show twelve fifty on Sports Talk seven ninety