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Brett Yormark: Big 12 football is 'deepest conference in America'

Danby: Daniel Hager05/29/26DanielHagerOn3

Big 12 Commissioner Brett Yormark is standing with his conference. On Friday, Yormark claimed that he believes the Big 12 is the deepest football conference in America.

“In football, I think we are the deepest conference in America,” Yormark said. Last season, Big 12 teams compiled a combined 107-87 record. Eight teams from the conference participated in bowl games, while Kansas State and Iowa State turned down postseason invites. In those eight games, Big 12 teams were 4-4.

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The Big 12 had one representative in the 2025-26 College Football Playoff, the Texas Tech Red Raiders. BYU, which lost in the Big 12 Championship to Texas Tech, was the second team out of the Playoff. In Texas Tech’s Playoff game, it fell to Oregon 23-0 in the Orange Bowl.

Yormark’s comments come just two days after SEC Commissioner Greg Sankey called his conference the strongest football conference in the country.

“If you look at the entirety of our league, we are by far the most competitive, the strongest football league. By far,” Sankey said Wednesday at the SEC’s spring meetings. “But you’re going to lose games when it’s close and competitive like that.

“So why have they surpassed us? It’s an odd ball that’s bounced a couple times the wrong way. Indiana was pretty dominant in the Rose Bowl last year. A lot of other games, you look, pretty close margin. And we’ve been the beneficiary on those.”

Big Ten Conference has won last three National Championships

Ironically, neither team from the Big 12 or SEC has won the National Championship since 2022 (Georgia). Three different teams from the Big Ten (Michigan, Ohio State, and Indiana) have won the last three national championships.

Since the College Football Playoff began in 2014, the SEC has led the way with six National Championships. The Big Ten trails behind with four, followed by the ACC (two). The Big 12 has not won a title in the CFP era.

So why does Sankey believe the SEC is the best conference in the country? Metrics from the College Football Playoff presentation.

“In a competitive environment, the margins are going to be thin,” Sankey said. “We’ve come up on the short end. I can assure you everyone in this league is trying to figure out how to come up on the top end of that in the future. But I think, from a big-picture [perspective], the breadth, the depth of this league, this league stands alone. In fact, we saw metrics out of the College Football Playoff presentation where there’s no doubt we’re the strongest league.

“Now, there’s some segments of other leagues that are towards where we are, but not nearly the entirety of a conference like the Southeastern Conference. It’s a pretty special place.”