Big 12 Meetings End with New Technology and Agreement on Something Overdue
STILLWATER – I keep telling myself that I really need to attend a Big 12 Spring Meeting. This was the one as the conference didn’t head to the beach Disney World, or the desert of Arizona as they have in the past. Big 12 Commissioner Brett Yormark and his staff met with the school presidents and chancellors, football, men’s and women’s basketball head coaches in Frisco, Texas. Okay, they were at the Omni PGA Resort, but modest expenses compared to past spring meetings. It made sense with the Big 12 schools getting the smallest checks from their conference, an estimated $35-30 million less than the Big Ten and SEC and an estimated $7.5-7 million less than the ACC. The spring meetings ended with then league’s schools agreeing to fully cooperate with the College Sports Commission. They also introduced a new replay center that will be featured on football broadcasts.
Some of the money saved from not going a great distance to a more expensive resort could help pay for the new technology. The Big 12 has remodeled and newly rennovated with advance technology the ROC. That is the football replay center where games ae monitored and now reviews will be handled in conjunction with officials and communicators with boots on the ground working the Big 12 Conference games. The league games and non conference games where Big 12 officials are assigned.
The approximately 2,000-square-foot facility will serve as a conference-controlled replay environment designed to enhance the consistency, speed and accuracy of video review while supporting official training and evaluation.
The new ROC will also support live audio feeds during replay reviews on Big 12 football broadcasts, making the Big 12 one of just two conferences to utilize replay audio as part of its television presentation. The announcement builds on the Conference’s continued commitment to increase officiating transparency, following the implementation of live replay center look-ins during the 2025 football season that provided viewers with behind-the-scenes access to the review process.
The ACC and the United Football League have already become fully transparent and let the television audience in on the replay reviews. The top replay officials will all be at the Replay Operations Center. Pokes Report has learned that some of the replay officials have been let go and a few have been added. My opinion is they let go of some good people, but that has happened in multiple areas at the conference level over the past few years.
As for the process, Yormark is already beaming with pride.
“That’s great access,” said the commissioner. “We want to find more ways to get our fans closer to what we do. That’s certainly one way, letting them experience what goes on on a Saturday. I’m excited about it.”
As for the approval of the CSC, actually both replay and CSC was approved in votes by the Big 12 presidents and chancellors.
The Big 12 is the first Power Four conference to completely sign on to support and stand by decisions rendered by the CSC. The signing of the document means Big 12 schools will give up any right to contest CSC rulings in state or federal courts. Legal action is no longer an option.
“The Big 12 wants rules and enforcements, and we want to be a leader in that area,” commissioner Yormark said Friday after the conference spring meetings adjourned. “I think signing the participation agreement certainly is indicative of that.”
This is great news for those of us that follow and love college athletics. It means there is a chance for some rules to be upheld and some competitive balance to be maintained. It is especially gratifying to see Texas Tech agrre to this. We all know the schools with the most resources financially are the ones holding up that process. Rules and financial restrictions that are in place, if they are enforced take away some of the advantage of having those resources.
The Big 12 is just one conference and this has a long way to go to become effective and streamlined.
