ARLINGTON, Texas – Big 12 Conference commissioner Brett Yormark is impressed with what Colorado has done in the first few months of the Deion Sanders era, but he’s certainly not ready to publicly talk about the Buffaloes in terms of expansion.

On Wednesday at AT&T Stadium, the Big 12 kicked off its annual media days with a news conference from Yormark.

The Pac-12 still doesn’t have a long-term media rights deal. Rumors and speculation of CU and a few other schools possibly joining the Big 12 are still flying. But, Tuesday was more about Yormark welcoming the four new members to the Big 12 — BYU, Central Florida, Cincinnati and Houston — rather than talking about adding more.

“I feel like I’ve been talking about expansion for a year now,” said Yormark, who took over as Big 12 commissioner a year ago. “We have a plan for expansion. I’m not going to really address it today. 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. But as I’ve always said, I love the composition of this conference right now. The excitement the four new members have brought to this conference has been incredible and if we stay at 12, we’re perfectly fine with that. If the opportunity presents itself, where there’s something that creates value and aligns well with our goals and objectives … then we’re certainly going to pursue it.”

The Pac-12’s current media rights deal expires next summer and the conference has been working on a new long-term deal for the past year. Several times in the past year, there have been reports of a deal being imminent, but at this point, there is no deal in place. Pac-12 media day is scheduled for July 21 in Las Vegas and it’s unlikely a deal will be announced before then.

Without a deal in place, the future of CU and other schools in the Pac-12 has been a hot topic. For nearly a year, there has been speculation about the four corners schools (CU, Arizona, Arizona State and Utah) potentially leaving for the Big 12.

CU will open its season Sept. 2 against the Big 12’s TCU Horned Frogs, a game that will be featured on Fox’s Big Noon kickoff. With the conference sharing the spotlight with the Buffs that day, Yormark was asked about CU’s offseason, which included hiring Sanders in December.

“They know brand. I’m a brand guy,” Yormark said. “I think they’ve done an incredible job if you look at kind of how they’re elevating and amplifying their brand and engaging with their fans. They’ve done a wonderful job. So I wish them well.”

That was the only time Yormark talked about CU specifically. Broader expansion questions were asked, however, including the potential of adding a Mountain time zone partner for BYU.

“(BYU), they bring a different time zone obviously, which is great for us,” Yormark said. “We’re the only conference in America that’s in three time zones, but right now, I mean there’s nothing on the board (to add others). Again, we’ll explore all options but until that point, we love the current makeup and we’re excited about it.”

For this year, the Big 12 will jump from 10 to 14 members, but Oklahoma and Texas will be leaving the conference next summer for the SEC. Yormark has stated in the past that he would like to stay at 14, but admitted Wednesday he would be happy remaining at 12.

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“I do think there’s strength in numbers,” he said. “But I also said we’re not chasing a number and that if and when the opportunity presents itself to stay at 14, we’ll pursue it. But, I did say that and I backpedaled a little bit because I realized it’s not about chasing the number. It’s all about creating value for membership and we’ll see where that takes us.”

Regarding an expansion timeline, Yormark said there isn’t one, but he would love the landscape to settle at some point.

“From my perspective, I’ve dealt with it for a whole year, so sooner or later it would be nice to just kind of push it aside and just focus on the things that are most important,” he said. “But you know, I guess there’s no timeline specifically.”

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