Ahead of Arizona’s second nonconference game against Weber State in Tucson, the Star’s Justin Spears and Michael Lev discuss all things UA football and predict notable Big 12 football games this week.
Nine minutes after TCU obliterated North Carolina on Monday night, the Big 12’s official account on the social media platform X weighed in with one line that said everything: “A 34-point win over the 33rd Team.”
The reference was to the Horned Frogs’ victory margin and UNC’s claim that with Bill Belichick in charge, the Tar Heels are effectively the 33rd NFL team.
The post featured a picture of TCU players, the final score (48-14), the Big 12 logo and nothing else. But make no mistake: There is plenty more where that came from, courtesy of a conference-operated account that is not like the others.
@Big12Conference is never nasty. It never gets personal. But it’s always poignant, creative and undaunted.
With that handle as its tool of choice, the conference has taken on the biggest names in college sports, from former Alabama coach Nick Saban to SEC commissioner Greg Sankey and Big Ten boss Tony Petitti.
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“Our media strategy is built to match the landscape,” said Clark Williams, the Big 12’s vice president for communications and strategy. “And like it or not, the landscape lives on social media.
“If something is inaccurate, inept or incorrect, we try to set the narrative right. But there’s plenty on social media that we don’t respond to.”
Most conference-operated accounts serve only as voiceless promotional mechanisms for the leagues and teams. @Big12Conference does plenty of promotion, but it adds context, humor and the occasional zinger to its repertoire.
During the crucible of the College Football Playoff debate last November, for example, former Alabama coach Nick Saban appeared on ‘The Pat McAfee Show’ and attempted to defend Mississippi’s three-loss résumé by taking aim at the Big 12.
“The conferences are not equal,” Saban said. “If Ole Miss played in the Big 12, what would their record be?”
It didn’t take long for @Big12Conference to respond. Under the comment, “Undefeated in Hypothetical Games,” three very real scores were listed:
Baylor 21, Ole Miss 7 (2021 Sugar Bowl)
TCU 42, Ole Miss 3 (2014 Peach Bowl)
Texas Tech 42, Ole Miss 25 (2022 Texas Bowl)
But that wasn’t all. The post included a picture of Saban from his ill-fated tenure coaching the Miami Dolphins with his mouth agape and arms stretched out in exasperation.
“It’s serious but fun,” Williams said.
Unless it’s just serious.
Last spring, after the College Football Playoff announced a change to the format for 2025 — teams will be seeded according to their ranking — the SEC’s Sankey expressed frustration with subsequent statements by Big 12 commissioner Brett Yormark and ACC commissioner Jim Phillips, who said they supported the change because it would benefit the game.
“I don’t need lectures from others about the good of the game… or coordinating press releases about the good of the game,” Sankey said during SEC spring meetings in Destin, Florida.
An hour later, Williams posted the following:
“There was no press release from the Big 12 — let alone a coordinated one with the ACC — regarding straight seeding.”
Notably, the comment was published on his account (@_CEWilliams_), not the conference’s.
“There’s PR and there’s communications,” said Tyrel Kirkham, the Big 12’s chief brand and business officer. “You have to push every button that allows your messaging to cascade through the marketplace.
“It starts with Brett, and we all draft off that.”
Few in college sports value messaging more than Yormark, a self-described salesman who took charge of the Big 12 three years ago after a career in the professional sports (NBA) and entertainment (Roc Nation) industries.
Yormark’s relentless approach serves a conference forever fighting for air and space in a marketplace dominated by the Big Ten and SEC. He has empowered the Big 12’s strategic communications team — Williams and Kirkham don’t work alone — to use the tools available in a proactive, impactful fashion.
“If someone’s not advocating on your behalf,” Kirkham said, “then use your own voice. If others aren’t talking about us, then we’ll talk about ourselves.”
The Big 12 did just that in early July, taking advantage of its position as the first Power Four conference to hold its summer media extravaganza.
In his state-of-the-conference address in Frisco, Texas, Yormark aggressively reiterated his position on the hottest issue in the sport: the format for an expanded College Football Playoff.
The Big 12, ACC and SEC support a model with 11 of the 16 bids assigned to at-large teams picked by the selection committee.
The Big Ten favors a radical approach that features 13 automatic bids, with the Big Ten and SEC each getting four and the Big 12 and ACC receiving two.
“We continue to believe the 5+11 model is the right playoff format,” Yormark said. “We want to earn it on the field. We do not need a professional model … I’m doubling down today on 5+11.”
Soon after, @Big12Conference posted a photo of Yormark on stage, with a quote pulled from his remarks and a four-word comment: “You heard the man.”
Two weeks later, Petitti opened the Big Ten’s three-day media event in Las Vegas and defended his controversial proposal, which uses conference record to determine which teams qualify for the CFP and leans on non-conference results only for seeding purposes.
“If you’re 6-3 in the Big Ten, I would argue that’s a good record,” Petitti said. “If you stumble in the nonconference, I don’t know why that would disqualify you.”
Well, @Big12Conference could not resist. The account reached into its quiver and found the perfect arrow. Above a picture of Iowa losing to Iowa State, the comment read: “A 6-3 team stumbling in the nonconference.”
The college sports website On3 called it a “savage shot” at Petitti.
“We know who we are and who we aren’t, and we know the avenue to who we can become,” Williams said. “The strategy allows us to be aspirational.”
The post generated 684,000 views and more than 5,000 likes. And therein lies the beauty of the Big 12’s social media game: It perfectly captures the ethos of its primary audience, Big 12 fans themselves.
For 15 years, the conference has been whacked by attrition, given up for dead in the realignment game and cast as second-class (relative to the SEC and Big Ten). Over time, its fans have developed an edge. They don’t tolerate slights and gang tackle like a great defense. While @Big12Conference prefers wit and irony to vitriol and confrontation, it channels those sentiments in a way that connects with the faithful.
“It’s always welcoming to see the reaction from fans when they say, ‘Thank you for speaking up,”’ Kirkham said.
Even the schools are willing to deliver a zinger when appropriate.
Last month, North Carolina’s football account promoted an upcoming docuseries about Belichick and the Tar Heels that’s scheduled to be available on Hulu this fall.
After the wipeout Monday night, @TCUfootball published a screenshot of the August post and wondered, “when does episode one come out?”
Contact Jon Wilner at [email protected]. On X (Twitter): @wilnerhotline
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