Big 12 commissioner Brett Yormark passed on further discussion of the turn of events involving Brendan Sorsby and Texas Tech as media days began Tuesday in Frisco, Texas.
“I appreciate the question,” Yormark said. “Today is not the time to address that issue. Today is about celebrating the upcoming football season and celebrating our 16 schools.”
In the seven months since Sorsby joined Texas Tech as one of the top quarterbacks in the transfer portal, he checked into rehab for gambling addiction, admitted to placing thousands of wagers and was ruled ineligible by the NCAA. Rather than fight the conference or NFL — which denied his application for the supplemental draft — for a chance to play in the fall, Sorsby opted to begin preparing for the 2027 NFL Draft.
Yormark said the Big 12 is expanding its current agreement with IC360, the global advisory and technology platform, to monitor sports betting in collegiate athletics.
After the conference kicked off last season in Ireland with a game between Iowa State and Kansas State, Yormark renewed his commitment to pushing the Big 12 as the “most globally relevant” conference in the country. Six Big 12 schools have international campus sites and Yormark said 20% of student-athletes come from another country.
“I’m convinced we can win globally,” he said.
Yormark also announced that the Big 12 would hold a league-wide meeting in August to address anti-LDS chants directed at BYU.
“We have a zero tolerance for that kind of behavior,” he said.
–Knights riding with Barnett
If UCF is on the verge of a turnaround, head coach Scott Frost understands the starting point is behind center.
The Knights open fall camp next month “hungry” and have what Frost views as an advantage with the QB position settled. Alonza Barnett III, a two-year starter at James Madison, arrives with the QB1 job locked down. The dual-threat had 15 rushing touchdowns and 23 TD passes for the Dukes last season.
UCF used three different quarterbacks last season, threw 12 total TD passes in 12 games in 2025, and the rushing attack scored 19 total TDs.
“We’re excited to have a guy. We went in last season with a three-horse race at quarterback. It’s going to be nice and refreshing to have a guy that everybody looks to and knows that he’s the guy. Alonza has played a lot of football games. He’s won a lot of football games. He’s a competitor, a guy that I’ve been really impressed with his presence on the field and in the huddle,” Frost said Tuesday. “He’s in charge, and I think the guys can see that. He has a ton of respect from our guys, and he’s the clear leader on offense right now like Lew Carter is the clear leader on defense for us. We didn’t really have that a year ago either, the vocal guy out in front. I think guys like that are going to give us a little bit easier path to hopefully some success.”
–Sun Devils’ self-created challenge
Arizona State can look forward to a pair of high-profile games this season. They just happen to be slated for back-to-back weeks.
The Sun Devils will have a quick turnaround from an imposing visit to Kyle Field to face Texas A&M to going wheels-up to London to play their conference opener against Kansas on Sept. 19. It will be the first FBS game ever played in England.
“I told our team, the biggest challenge is us this year in managing the schedule, going on the road at A&M and then going straight from A&M straight to London Week 3,” coach Kenny Dillingham said. “That’s a challenge of its own.”
But Dillingham was still an unequivocal “yes” when it came to signing up for the unique trip. The Arizona State alum and fourth-year head coach said the goal is to let his players make memories.
“Sending 105 college kids to London to experience something they may never experience again is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity,” he said. “Even though it makes our schedule more challenging, everything is challenging in its own light. We created the challenge for ourselves, but if we go take care of business, play the game we want to play, prepare how we want to prepare, it could also bring us together, and we could turn it into a positive.
“That does create challenges in the schedule. It puts our bye week (after Week 3), and then us having nine straight games is another challenge of keeping our bodies healthy. This is a great challenge for our team to be able to play a difficult schedule, not just verse teams, but logistically, and find a way to navigate through it. That’s the maturity that I think this team has.”
–Monster Inked
Yormark confirmed a multi-year partnership with Monster Energy to include on-field logos, uniform patches and other branding across multiple sports.
The corporate agreement could bring more than $1 million to all 16 members of the conference in return for ushering in new branding for men’s and women’s basketball. During the upcoming season, conference games will be referenced as “Monster Energy Big XII Football.”
In all, the agreement is worth more than $20 million per year and labels Monster Energy as the Big 12 “entitlement partner.”
–Field Level Media
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