Big 12 Media Days: What to expect from Iowa State in changing world

We’ll hear from commissioner Brett Yormark during Wednesday’s opening session at Big 12 Media Days in Arlington, Texas. We’ll hear that the conference continues to be open for business.

We’ll hear how the conference has changed since Yormark’s out-of-the-box hiring from the entertainment world has taken one of the nation’s top three college conferences to places it’s never been.

We’ll meet the coaches from Big 12 newcomers BYU, Cincinnati, Houston, and UCF – and we’ll hear how excited they are to join a conference that’s trending in a good way.

We’ll also (finally) say good-bye to Oklahoma and Texas.

The football schedule format that transpires in a couple months is something this resilient league hasn’t experienced since Iowa State, Nebraska, Missouri, Oklahoma, Kansas State and Kansas in 1928 formed the backbone to a conference that’s grown to 14 teams. No longer will there be scheduling parity. No longer will everyone play everyone during the course of a football season. Fourteen teams means the scheduling loophole other Power Five conferences have enjoyed for many years. Sometimes you don't play league favorites, some seasons you do.

Throughout it all, the conference has withstood defections and unsubstantiated reckless chatter about possibly breaking up. It has held its ground even after the losses of forefathers Nebraska and Missouri to other conferences − while maintaining all-important TV rights status behind the Big Ten and the SEC.

Change has been inevitable as college athletics still tries to define what it wants to become. The Big 12 has again changed for the positive – positives we’ll hear about during two days of interacting with everyone from administrators to players representing the Big 12’s first 14-team conference.

We'll talk a lot of football inside massive AT&T Stadium

At least four players will represent each team, including Iowa State cornerback T.J. Tampa (a first-team all-Big 12 preseason pick), safety Beau Freyler, linebacker Gerry Vaughn and receiver Jaylin Noel.

What about quarterback Hunter Dekkers, you wonder?

The last time a quarterback accompanied coach Matt Campbell to the annual conference Media Days was Kyle Kempt in 2018.

That’s right. Brock Purdy, the NFL rookie QB (and the last pick in the 2022 draft, in case you hadn’t heard) never made a Big 12 Media Days appearance. And all he did during his first season in the pros was get the 49ers within a game of last season’s Super Bowl.

So, Dekkers not joining his teammates is unfortunate but not surprising. He would have been the Cyclones’ most sought-after player this week, given that quarterbacks are always in interview demand.

What summertime prep work is Dekkers doing to face three opponents he’s never faced? In his case, that’d be Cincinnati, BYU (more on them later) and yes, Northern Iowa.

What’s his role in helping the Cyclones recover from 4-8 last season? Is he not starting? Is he injured? Is it something else? Ditto with running back Jirehl Brock. A veteran, but he's not on the agenda, either.

Unfortunately, to speak with them we’ll have to wait until the team’s annual early-August media day at Jack Trice Stadium.

We’ll hear about the new TV deal, a possible bowl game in Mexico, basketball in New York's Rucker Park and NFL Pro Day in the Cowboys' stadium

We’ll get an expansion update that I hope not only continues to keep Colorado, Arizona, Arizona State and Utah in the running, but actually includes a timeline of when they’ll start joining.

Of course, the odds of learning that this week ranks right up there with a quarterback suddenly joining his teammates during Iowa State’s Thursday portion of the two-day event.

“I’d like to stay at 14 teams, even with the departure of Texas and Oklahoma,” Yormark recently told BYU Sports Nation. “We’ll see if that’s a possibility or not. But I love 12.” 

What we probably won’t hear, at least this week, is who’s officially at the top of the Big 12’s expansion list. San Diego State isn’t, but certainly there will be questions about Connecticut in all sports and Gonzaga in basketball.

Beyond that?

Stay tuned.

And what about the cloud hanging over Iowa State’s 2023 football team?

We’ll ask about the sports wagering probe Iowa State and Iowa revealed in May. We’ll ask about the five or so Cyclone football players supposedly under DCI investigation and how that affects preparation for the season.

Will they be eligible Sept. 2 against Northern Iowa and the following Saturday against Iowa? Are they already suspended, despite games still a few weeks away? Have they been working out with their teammates?

There was no new news the last time the Register checked with the DCI, Iowa State and the Story County attorney. Can’t comment on an open investigation, essentially was the reply.

That’s to be expected. Quick resolution was never happening, given the layers involved in an investigation of this magnitude.

Will the newness of the conference – and anticipated further growth – be enough to divert attention away from gambling?

Doubtful at a local level, but at least it’s a start, entering one of the most intriguing college football seasons ever.

Iowa State columnist Randy Peterson is in his 51st year writing sports for the Des Moines Register. Reach him at [email protected], and on Twitter @RandyPete