5 BYU Takeaways From Big 12 Spring Meetings

Big 12 leaders, including head coaches for the football and basketball programs, met in Texas over the last week. Big 12 leaders discussed a variety of topics, including an expanded playoff, replay transparency, and more.

In this article, we will recap Big 12 spring meetings from the BYU perspective. Here were our top five takeaways.

1. "I think BYU should have made the CFP last year"

Last season, BYU was historically under-ranked by the CFP selection committee. Despite being ranked well below other teams with similar resumes, Big 12 commissioner Brett Yormark didn't publicly advocate for BYU until the final weekend of the regular season.

By the time Yormark went to bat for BYU, it was a case of too little, too late. The Cougars went into the Big 12 championship game at 11-1 and the first team out of the College Football Playoff playoff.

Fast forward to last week and Yormark said he still believes BYU "should have made the CFP last year."

Yormark: "I think BYU should have made the CFP last year. There was a lot of debate around it, but I feel very strongly about their resume."

(The CFP metrics had BYU quite high)
— Chris Vannini (@ChrisVannini) May 29, 2026

Given what happened to BYU in 2025, perhaps Yormark will be more aggressive in the way he advocates for his schools in 2026. It's becoming increasingly clear that college football views the Big 12 as a one-bid league. The Big 12 might have to be aggressive to counter that.

2. BYU is in favor of the 24-team playoff

During spring meetings, all 16 Big 12 coaches voted unanimously in favor of a 24-team playoff. For the Big 12, a 24-team playoff would make a lot of sense. Over the last two years, 8 out of 16 Big 12 teams would have made the playoff. Instead, only two teams made the cut in the 12-team format.

BYU would have been benefitted the most. The Cougars would be the only Big 12 school to make the CFP in back-to-back seasons.

Last season, no. 11 BYU would have hosted no. 22 Georgia Tech in the first round of the CFP. The winner of that game would have advanced to the second round to take on no. 6 Ole Miss.

In 2024, no. 18 BYU would have rematched against no. 15 Arizona State in the first round of the CFP.

3. BYU earns first full Big 12 revenue payout

The Big 12 announced a conference record $710 million in gross revenue in 2025-2026. 2025-2026 was the first season in which BYU received a full share of Big 12 revenue. The Cougars were already ranked in the top five in revenue generation in the first year of the new-look league.

Now that they will earn a full share of revenue, the Cougars are poised to be near the very top of the Big 12 in revenue. $710 million in revenue would be $44.4M per school. Brian Murphy reported that BYU received $23.1M from the Big 12 in 2024-2025. In other words, BYU's share of Big 12 revenues would nearly double, growing by $21.3M compared to the prior year.

Big 12 distributions for 2024-25 academic year:
Eight members from before 2023-24: $41.1M (Iowa State) to $38M (Oklahoma State)
Four new members from $19.8M (Houston) to $23.1M (BYU)
— Brian Murphy (@murphsturph) May 22, 2026

BYU generated $153.4M in 2024-2025, the last year of a partial Big 12 distribution. Assuming all other revenue channels remain flat to 2024-2025, BYU is on schedule to generate $174.7M in revenue in 2025-2026. That would have ranked first in the Big 12 in 2024-2025.

4. Replay transparency coming to BYU games

Last season, the ACC shared audio and video footage from its replay reviews. Now, that same replay transparency is coming to the Big 12. Viewers will be able to hear the process and reasoning behind replay reviews beginning in 2026.

Last year, for example, BYU star linebacker Isaiah Glasker was ejected on a very questionable targeting call. The call was upheld upon further review. The conversation to eject Glasker would have been included on the broadcast.

5. "I just want to beat all of you"

Before spring meetings, Texas head coach Steve Sarkisian took a shot at Texas Tech's schedule, claiming the Longhorns could go undefeated with their twos and threes against the same schedule.

Joey McGuire fired back, saying Texas Tech is prepared to buyout the week one opponents for both schools and play Texas in week one.

BYU head coach Kalani Sitake is close friends with both Sark and McGuire. Chris Vannini of The Athletic asked Sitake about the Sarkisian-McGuire fued.

"Sark's a good friend of mine. Joey's my boy," Sitake said. "I just want to beat all of you."

I asked BYU coach Kalani Sitake about McGuire vs. Sark

"Sark's a good friend of mine (from BYU). Joey's my boy. I just want to beat all of you."
— Chris Vannini (@ChrisVannini) May 29, 2026

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