Brett Yormark lost his voice this week.
The Big 12 commissioner who’s normally quick to yap about topics such as March Madness expansion, College Football Playoff reconfiguration, or uncorking zany ideas such as Big 12 Mexico or a glass basketball court went mum for hours after a Texas judge ruled sports gambling addict Brendan Sorsby eligible to play for Texas Tech this season.
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Eventually, Yormark found an inkwell and issued a meek statement calling the court ruling “significant” and saying it “could have broad impacts across college athletics” and noting it caused “great concern amongst our membership.”
Truly profound stuff from the Big 12 boss, while his membership loses its collective mind.
Hayes: If the NCAA can’t stop it, the CFP should: Ban Texas Tech
Toppmeyer: Brendan Sorsby court ruling a win for gambling addicts everywhere
Does Yormark plan to do anything? No sign of action yet.
Meanwhile, Texas Tech mega-booster Cody Campbell took a victory lap. Campbell and his Red Raiders shoved a fist through the NCAA’s dentures. (The NCAA lost its teeth a long time ago.) Sorsby’s legal team successfully argued their client gambled because of anxiety and he developed a full-fledged addiction, and therefore he should get to skate past the NCAA’s black-and-white gambling rules.
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That sound preposterous? Not to a Texas judge.
Campbell has made it clear he’ll keep tormenting the NCAA until Congress delivers the federal legislation to reshape college sports in a way the billionaire oil tycoon desires.
Makes me wonder — and not for the first time — who’s really running the Big 12?
Is Yormark in charge, or is it Campbell?
Who runs the Big 12?
The Big 12 used to allow the Texas Longhorns to bully the rest of the league and run the boardroom. Yormark should ask his predecessors Dan Beebe and Bob Bowlsby how that worked out.
Say what you will about the SEC’s Greg Sankey or Big Ten’s Tony Petitti — and I’ve said plenty — but neither commissioner could be credibly accused of allowing a single booster or one institution to put them in a corner.
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Petitti suspended Jim Harbaugh for three important games in November 2023 after Michigan cheated. Never mind the Wolverines were marching toward the Big Ten’s first football national championship in nearly a decade, Petitti was willing to enrage Michigan and show some governance. That took some spine.
“Do what’s fair (to) protect the entire conference,” Petitti said of his decision to suspend Harbaugh. “That was the approach we took.”
When Alabama ignored NCAA rules last winter and added an NBA G Leaguer to its roster, Sankey took a stand during the court case that would decide whether pro hooper Charles Bediako could play. Sankey went against Alabama. He filed an affidavit in support of the NCAA. Alabama was incensed at Sankey, but Sankey wasn’t just standing for NCAA rules and going against the Tide. He stood up for SEC teams who weren’t flouting rules but had to face the Tide’s pro player.
A court ultimately ruled in favor of the NCAA and got Bediako off the court. Only the judge could say how much Sankey’s affidavit influenced the outcome, but I know this: Bediako was playing before Sankey spoke up, then stopped playing after Sankey found his voice.
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Will Brett Yormark take a side in NCAA appeal?
The NCAA will appeal the judge’s decision allowing Sorsby to play.
Will Yormark file an affidavit to support the NCAA? Will he take any other league action against Texas Tech or coach Joey McGuire if they play a quarterback the NCAA had ruled permanently ineligible? Yormark’s statement left those questions unanswered.
“We will continue to monitor and evaluate the situation,” Yormark said.
He’ll monitor. Great. In other words, he’ll be a spectator like the rest of us, while Texas Tech plays a quarterback who admits he trampled NCAA rules by placing thousands of sports wagers, including bets on games involving his own team.
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Big 12 membership is going bonkers over this.
“It’s f***ing bulls***,” Kansas State athletic director Gene Taylor told Yahoo Sports.
There’s someone who hasn’t lost his voice.
One Big 12 coach, granted anonymity, told ESPN he’s considering teaching his players how to gamble and fix the outcome of games, now that sports betting is apparently OK for college athletes.
“(Players) would be able to make a lot of money betting on our games,” the Big 12 coach told ESPN.
One can assume that comment is steeped in frustration and rich in hyperbole, but a coach even talking about fixing games speaks to the magnitude of the situation.
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Yormark’s job calls on him to do what’s best for the Big 12.
Sorsby playing after years of rule-breaking behavior might be good for Texas Tech, but 15 other institutions call the Big 12 home, too. Many of them think this is, to quote Taylor, bulls***.
Will Yormark stand with them, or will he stand with Cody Campbell University?
Or, perhaps, he’ll just say nothing and watch as the Big 12 comes unglued.
Blake Toppmeyer is the USA TODAY Network’s senior national college football columnist. Email him at BToppmeyer@gannett.com and follow him on X @btoppmeyer.
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Big 12 needed a leader. Brett Yormark went quiet after Brendan Sorsby news
