Big 12 commissioner Brett Yormark explains a new approach to rivalry games, including BYU-Utah

KANSAS CITY — BYU fans have expressed concerns about the absence of a dedicated rivalry week in football within the Big 12 and why BYU has not been scheduled to play Utah.

Well, now fans have their answer.

Big 12 commissioner Brett Yormark told the Daily Universe that he "wants every game to be rivalry" in the Big 12 and doesn't want to designate that to a specific week.

That's not the statement fans, certainly BYU ones, want to hear.

One of the Big 12 conference's biggest rivalries is known to fans as the "Holy War."

"Rivalry Week" in college football is the final week of the regular season, typically at the end of November.

Since becoming the Big 12 commissioner, Yormark and the conference have not yet scheduled the BYU versus Utah game for the season's final week.

Last season, BYU played Utah in the first week of November. They will meet again this year on Oct. 18 in Provo during Homecoming week, which is not a rivalry week.

Four Corner Schools

The conference expanded again on Aug. 2 last year, adding former Pac-12 schools in Arizona, Arizona State, Colorado, and Utah.

"I’m thrilled to officially welcome Arizona, Arizona State, Colorado and Utah into the Big 12 family," said Yorkmark at the induction time.

Yormark congratulated TCU on winning the 2025 Philips 66 Big 12 Women's Championship after the team's 6-12 conference season the previous year.

New Gray Court

The new court colors for this year's tournament, black and gray, have been controversial. They contrast with last year's black, red, and tan.

Many people have reacted negatively towards the new court.

"The court is not about me; it's about our student athletes," said Yormark when asked about it on Tuesday morning.

"When I first got here, it was all about modernizing and contemporizing our brand. Connecting to culture and getting on the consciousness of current and future student athletes," he said. "Every student athlete that walked on that court last week came up to me and said Brett it's fantastic; they took selfies, they I loved it. Today, I got here very early. Iowa State practiced, and the entire team said love it, love being on there. I think it's aspirational. That's our stage and we wanted to make a profound statement, and we did. In life, you never get it perfectly correct, but I think the people that matter most that are weighing in really love it, and that's what matters to me."

Yormark fully supports the student athletes in this conference, and his comments on Tuesday morning reinforce that.

Big 12 Basketball moving back to 18 conference games

Brian Thorton, the Big 12 Conference’s Vice President of Men’s Basketball, was asked if the 20-game conference would continue to be in effect.

"That is our anticipation to go 18 games," said Thorton. "One of the biggest emphases of that is just the balance of conference versus non-conference games. It's extremely important, because of the competitive nature of our conference, for the ability to have a bye built into our schedule. The way the schedule lays out playing 20 games post Christmas makes that impossible to do. We are going to try 18 games and see how that goes."

BYU men's basketball has maintained a record above .500 in conference play since joining the Big 12 Conference.

The Cougars wrapped up the 2023-24 season with a 10-8 conference record, securing the No. 5 seed in the Big 12 tournament under the previous coaching staff.

In his first year, Kevin Young has guided BYU to a 14-6 record, which earned the team the No. 4 seed, tied for third in league play, and a double-bye to the quarterfinals of the Big 12 tournament.

No. 17 BYU will face the winner of No. 13 seed Cincinnati and the No. 5 Iowa State on Thursday, at 10:30 a.m. MDT at the T-Mobile Center.