'Nothing replaces winning': Big 12 back from the brink

NEW YORK (AP) — Big 12 Commissioner Brett Yormark spent part of this week in Manhattan, at ESPN's South Street Seaport studios and also hunkered down in the midtown offices of one of the top public relations firms in the country, trying to “set the narrative” for a conference that has come back from the brink.

Two and half months into his tenure, Yormark is grinding to deliver on his top priorities: Creating new revenue streams and making the Big 12's brand more relevant to both high school recruits and potential business partners.

“One of the reasons I’m here is because I think we can become more commercially viable than we have been,” said Yormark, a former executive at talent agency Roc Nation and CEO of Barclays Center in Brooklyn.

Of course, nothing helps more than success on the field and the new commissioner is getting a lot of help from the Big 12's football teams right now.

Half of the conference's 10 schools are in the AP Top 25 this week, and the four highest ranked teams are all Big 12 members for the foreseeable future. No. 22 Texas and Oklahoma, currently on a three-game losing streak, have been overshadowed as they prepare to head out the door to the Southeastern Conference after next season.

This weekend's matchup of undefeated Big 12 teams has No. 8 Oklahoma State at No. 13 TCU.

That follows last weekend's thrilling TCU-Kansas game, which was the site of the most-watched episode of ESPN's “College GameDay” this season.

For the first time since 2007, both Kansas schools are ranked. The 19th-ranked Jayhawks' remarkable rise out off decade-long doldrums under coach Lance Leipold has been one of the top stories of the season.

“We all think we’re great marketers, and we all do what we do better than the next person, but at the end of the day nothing...