Big 12 exploring re-brand options (not a name change) as new members join conference

Kellis Robinett
·2 min read
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If ever there was a time for the Big 12 Conference to consider changing its name, that time is now.

Two founding members (Oklahoma and Texas) are departing for the SEC, four new members (BYU, Cincinnati, Houston and UCF) just moved into the conference and four more new members (Arizona, Arizona State, Colorado and Utah) will join next year after they bid farewell to the Pac-12.

In the span of three football seasons, the Big 12 will go from having 10 members to 14 and then 16.

That’s a lot of change.

Big 12 commissioner Brett Yormark is always talking about ways to make the conference “younger, hipper and cooler.” Maybe a new name that pays homage to the number 16 or the new coast-to-coast feel of the league could help in that department.

Or not.

“The Big 12 is a good brand. We’re not going to re-name it,” Kansas State athletic director Gene Taylor said. “We might re-brand it, but I think everybody feels pretty good about what the Big 12 means.

“The Big 12 still has a lot of cachet to it, particularly the last couple of years. So I think that is going to stay. I don’t see us re-naming the conference now. It’s just too good and strong of a brand. People recognize it.”

There are certainly good reasons for keeping the only name the conference has ever known. It would be nearly impossible to create a new name that instantly carries the same amount of brand appeal. After all, there is a reason why the Big Ten has kept the same name even though that conference has ballooned in size over the years.

Still, that doesn’t mean the Big 12 will look and feel exactly the same moving forward in terms of branding.

Yormark has promised that a new logo and some new slogans are in the works. It seems like he wants a the conference to have a new look without getting a complete makeover.

What phrases will replace classics like “every game matters” and “one true champion” under the new Big 12 flag?

Taylor said all 16 of the conference’s 2024 athletic directors recently gathered for their first group meeting together last week at the Grand Hyatt hotel located inside DFW airport and everyone agreed that re-brand options were worth exploring.

Changing the conference’s name is a much harder sell.

“You may see some stuff a little bit this year kind of indicating the direction,” Taylor said. “I have seen a few things. Bigger than 12 is a theme. I think you will see some things, particularly this fall from the Big 12 that give you an indication of the thought process of why we’re keeping the Big 12 name, even though we’re going to be 16 teams.”