LAS VEGAS — In the middle of Big 12 football media day, within the air conditioned confines of Allegiant Stadium, during a steamy day in the desert, a costumed mascot — the furry, gray BYU cougar — playfully toys around with the Cincinnati bearcat while the Utah athletic director watches from afar.
Mark Harlan, the longtime Utes administrator, gestures to this unusual and, perhaps, unthinkable scene that spells out a new reality: BYU and Cincinnati are in the same conference as Utah. And Colorado and Arizona State. And Kansas. And Iowa State. And Central Florida.
Yes, Harlan says, this is weird. It is a bit surreal, almost unbelievable that one year ago Harlan was strolling through Pac-12 media day just a few blocks from here and that only 18 months ago, his team won the Pac-12 championship in this very venue.
“Now,” he says, “here we are playing for the Big 12.”
It is all very weird. But exciting, too, Harlan says. New teams. New places. And a new, brash commissioner who confidently kicked off the two-day event here with a fiery, hour-long presentation in which he boastfully described his league as one of the three best in the country.
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Dressed in a gray tailored suit and crisp red tie, Brett Yormark paced the elevated stage before more than 500 media members not unlike a WWE wrestler stalking the ring, ripping and roaring, juking and jiving and not-so-subtly digging at his rivals, most notably the ACC.
“We’ve solidified ourselves as one of the top three conferences in America,” he said.
He described the Big 12 as the “deepest” football league in the country and said the conference is “more relevant now than ever before.”
“I will not stop until we are the No. 1 conference in America,” he added later.
His words were strikingly similar to…
Source link : https://sports.yahoo.com/after-reshaping-the-big-12-whats-next-for-brett-yormarks-conference-you-could-say-we-are-still-open-for-business-231923187.html
Author : Yahoo Sports
Publish date : 2024-07-09 23:19:23
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