Jul. 12—ARLINGTON, Texas — Big 12 Commissioner Brett Yormark knew it was going to come up. And he wasted little time in quieting any conversation surrounding the league’s highly anticipated expansion efforts amid an unprecedented period of conference realignment.

On the verge of his second year leading the league, Yormark delivered a sequence of conference-progressive comments before opening the floor. Moments later — four questions, to be exact — he was asked the inevitable.

“We have a plan, and we have a plan for expansion, and I’m not going to really address it today,” Yormark said. “You can ask me, but I’m not really going to address it. We do have a plan, and, hopefully, we can execute that plan sooner than later.”

The Big 12 welcomed four new members — BYU, Central Florida, Cincinnati and Houston — on July 1. Yormark said the upcoming athletic year will be a balance of welcoming a new era of the Big 12 while celebrating Texas and Oklahoma before they leave for the SEC.

“For me, it’s really a year of celebration,” Yormark said. “And we’re very excited about it.”

But Yormark’s latest outlook on the issue self-admittedly differs — “backpedaling,” he called it — from what he said roughly a month ago, when he stated he’d like the Big 12 to stay at 14 teams even after the departures of the Longhorns and Sooners.

He and the league are “perfectly fine” staying at 12 teams until they find prospective institutions that both create value and align with the Big 12’s goals, he said. That process, Yormark said, could include evaluating both Power Five and non-Power Five programs, though there’s no telling when any of that could happen.

“I’ve dealt with (expansion) for a whole year. So, sooner or later, it’d be nice to just kind of push it to the side and focus on things that are most important,” Yormark said. “I guess there’s no timeline.”

When it comes to what Yormark and Co. have already done, they’re already a step ahead of any other conference in the country. The Big 12 is currently the only league with members in three separate time zones.

A potential expansion, with some of the previously reported interest being among schools on The West Coast, would give the Big 12 a fourth time zone. That, Yormark said, would turn the conference into a national brand while granting the Big 12’s media partners another broadcast window.

Still, Yormark isn’t in any type of rush, and he isn’t going to reach for teams that don’t seamlessly mesh into the league’s forward-thinking vision.

“I guess it would be a positive,” Yormark said of expanding west, “if it was the right fit.”

Sure, expanding one of the country’s premiere leagues, regardless of sport, has been a priority since Yormark officially took over for Bob Bowlsby a summer ago. That isn’t the only thing on the agenda, though, and that’s shown with the steps — leaps, even — that the Big 12 has taken.

Yormark reached new TV agreements with both ESPN and FOX, solidifying the conference’s airtime through 2031. He accelerated the withdrawals of OU and Texas, something he deemed a “win-win” situation. He dove into the league’s previously announced plans for international basketball, soccer and baseball games in Mexico.

The Big 12 is also looking at establishing a bowl game in Monterrey, Mexico, starting in 2026. It would be the first-ever bowl game in Mexico and the first college football game there since 1961.

“When you look at Mexico, it’s an ideal extension to our geographic footprint,” Yormark said. “When you look at the makeup of many of our member institutions, connecting with the Hispanic community is critically important.”

Amid a time of such uncertainty, one thing has been clear under Yormark: Long gone are the days of the Big 12 being undervalued. And he wants everyone to know it.

“There’s been no better time to be a part of the Big 12 than right now,” Yormark said. “This thing is going to grow. It’s going to move forward in a positive way. I’m really excited about our future.”