Texas Tech’s Playoff Surge Signals a New Era for the Big 12
MIAMI GARDENS, Fla. - Big 12 commissioner Brett Yormark has long championed the idea of parity across his conference - the kind of top-to-bottom competitiveness that makes every Saturday unpredictable. But even Yormark knows that for a league to elevate its national profile, it needs more than just balance.
It needs stars. And this year, Texas Tech stepped into that spotlight.
Speaking ahead of the Orange Bowl at Hard Rock Stadium, where the Red Raiders were set to take on Oregon in a College Football Playoff quarterfinal, Yormark didn’t hold back on what this moment meant - not just for Texas Tech, but for the Big 12 as a whole.
“This is what we’ve been working toward,” Yormark said. “Parity is great - and we’ve got that.
I’ve said all year we’re probably the deepest conference in America. But at some point, you need a few teams to rise above the pack.
Texas Tech and BYU did that this season.”
And rise they did. Both teams finished the regular season at 11-1 and met in Arlington for the Big 12 Championship Game. Texas Tech didn’t just win - they dominated, cruising to a 34-7 victory at AT&T Stadium and locking in their place among the final four in the expanded 12-team College Football Playoff.
What made the Red Raiders' run even more impressive is that they did it without the benefit of automatic qualification. Last year, Arizona State made the CFP thanks to a conference title that came with a guaranteed bid. This year, with the new format in place, Texas Tech had to earn every inch of their playoff berth - and they did just that, proving their legitimacy on the field.
Yormark sees this as a blueprint for what success can look like in the Big 12 moving forward.
“Our schools are investing at a high level,” he said. “There were surprises this year - Arizona, for example, came out of nowhere.
No one saw that coming. But that’s the kind of depth we’re building.
And we’ll see more of that next year.”
The commissioner made it clear that while he’s thrilled to see Texas Tech on the national stage, this moment is about more than one team. It’s about the Big 12 carving out its place in the new era of college football - one where conferences are measured not just by how competitive they are, but by how many of their teams can make serious postseason noise.
Texas Tech’s ascent is a signal. The Big 12 isn’t just deep - it’s dangerous. And with programs like BYU and Arizona also making big strides, the league might be closer than ever to shedding its underdog label and stepping fully into the national spotlight.
For Yormark, this is just the beginning.