Big 12 Commissioner Bretty Yormark dropped into Orlando Wednesday to visit UCF ahead of the University’s move to join the power five conference in July of 2023.
Yormark touched down in Orlando Wednesday afternoon where he accompanied UCF Vice President and Athletics Director Terry Mohajir to tour the future Big 12 program and met with coaches, players, and personnel from several different teams on UCF’s main campus.
UCF will leave the American Athletic Conference next year and join the Big 12 on July 1, 2023. The Knights will be joined by fellow current AAC members Cincinnati, Houston and BYU.
Yormark held a press conference after his tour around the campus where Mohajir gifted the Big 12 Commissioner with a #12 personalized black and blue SpaceU jersey that the team wore in its dominant win over Temple earlier this month.
“I’ve learned a lot about that today, about the jersey,” Yormark said. “Everyone needs to carve out a point of differentiation in everything they do, especially from a brand perspective. The school is doing that, and we welcome that, and we welcome that approach and that aggressive nature and we think it’ll be very additive to what we’re thinking about at the Big 12.”
Yormark is visiting UCF less than 100 days after taking the job over from Bob Bowlsby when he announced he was stepping down in April.
Yormark said he was excited to finally visit the Knights and was impressed by the amenities and passion displayed by the student-athletes when making his rounds earlier in the day.
“We’re thrilled that the UCF family will be officially joining the Big 12,” Yormark said. “The facilities are grand. You can feel the passion and commitment from the student-athletes. They’re all excited about being part of the Big 12.”
Yormark said that despite the loss of college football staples, Texas and Oklahoma, he said the move to bring in UCF and three other schools has expanded their geological footprint going from five to eight states including Florida for the first time.
“We’re excited about the direction we’re going in,” Yormark said. “When Texas and Oklahoma left, Bob Bowlsby did an incredible job in his recovery efforts in bringing in the four new schools. Obviously, UCF is a big part of that. We get to call this great state of Florida home.”
Yormark says he believes Orlando as an international market city and UCF’s ever growing student body along with the University’s continued efforts to brand itself to stand apart from other universities will play a big part in the Big 12 future success.
“This is a conference that continues to get better,” Yormark said. “With the addition of UCF and all of your sports programs, and the success you’ve had, we will get better. It will force us to get better. We’re excited.”
