Big 12 Media Days: 12 questions we'd like to see answered, on and off the gridiron

ARLINGTON, Texas — Big 12 Media Days arrive Wednesday at JerryWorld, complete with the usual fanfare.
It’s a football celebration. The gridiron is just around the corner.
Of course, the football people who assemble to promote the Big 12 aren’t always forthcoming. We often have more unanswered questions than answered.
Some of that is our fault. Some questions can’t be answered. At least not in July. But some questions can, so here is our annual offering of a dozen questions we hope can be answered by Thursday night.
COLLEGE FOOTBALL REALIGNMENT: Where things stand after USC, UCLA bolt Pac-12
1. What is new Big 12 commissioner Brett Yormark like?
I assume Yormark is a home run personality. I’ve heard good things. If he’s short of charisma, someone’s got some ‘splaining to do.
Yormark has limited, as in virtually no, experience with collegiate athletics. So he better be a whiz with people and a master television negotiator.
MORE:Big 12 Conference hires Brett Yormark to replace Bob Bowlsby as commissioner
2. How bold will coaches and athletic directors be about Big 12 expansion?
A year ago, everyone was robust about the conference’s future. A week later, the OU-Texas news broke, and the Big 12 seemed doomed.
But now it’s the Pac-12 that is imperiled, with the Big 12 a potential landing spot for Pac expatriates. Will some Big 12 voices be brave enough to politick for the likes of Oregon, Washington and Utah?
3. Is Mike Gundy still bullish on OSU becoming a national power?
Last January, the morning after the Cowboys beat Notre Dame 37-35 in the Fiesta Bowl, Gundy said OSU had the potential to the join the rare club of bluebloods.
Did the Big Ten expansion plans change that? Southern Cal and UCLA are headed to the Big Ten in 2024, and the gap between the Southeastern Conference/Big Ten power leagues and the other major conferences is growing by huge margins.
4. Will there be any animosity toward the Sooners?
A year ago at this time, the Big 12 was all kumbaya. A week later came the news that OU and Texas were SEC-bound.
Coaches and players rarely showed disgust for the Sooners on the gridiron last autumn. But sometimes people let their guard down in July, and true feelings come through the Big 12 microphones.
TRAMEL: USC-UCLA move to the Big Ten could mean early Big 12 exit for Sooners & Longhorns
5. Will Texas coach Steve Sarkisian drop any clues about the Longhorn quarterback race?
Almost everyone expects Ohio State transfer Quinn Ewers to win the job over Hudson Card. But will Sark show his hand? Card won the job last August but soon enough gave way to Casey Thompson, who since has transferred to Nebraska. But the stoic Sarkisian didn’t let on either way last July. Will he this year?
6. Has Dave Aranda developed a pulse after winning the 2021 Big 12 title?
Baylor's coach has done a masterful job after taking over for Matt Rhule, but Aranda has done it with a personality that is lower-keyed than a barber-shop-quartet bass singer.
Art Briles was brash. Rhule was effervescent. But Aranda is soft-spoken, even-keeled and as bubbly as a mortician. Not that there’s anything wrong with that. His style obviously works. But will Aranda come out of his shell?
TRAMEL: Did Lincoln Riley find harder road in the Big Ten with USC than in SEC with OU?
7. Why did Kansas State quarterback Adrian Martinez leave Nebraska?
Martinez was a four-year starter for the Cornhuskers but sought greener pastures. What a world. K-State has a better football program than does Nebraska. Will Martinez cop to that?
8. What's the appeal to new Texas Tech coach Joey McGuire?
We’ve been hearing about McGuire’s magnetic personality for years. Lincoln Riley tried to hire McGuire for OU’s staff a few years ago, but Baylor was willing to enter a bidding war to keep him. Now Tech has made McGuire its head coach, less than five years after he was head coach at Cedar Hill High School in south Dallas.
TRAMEL'S SCISSORTALES: Will a 14-team Big 12 Conference play football with divisions?
9. Will Sonny Dykes remind us of his father?
One of the blessings of the early Big 12 years was dealing with Spike Dykes, Tech’s coach from 1987-99. Spike Dykes was the ultimate West Texan. Tough. Folksy. Determined. Principled. Great storyteller. I always figured Sonny Dykes would end up as head coach in Lubbock. Instead, he’s the head coach at Texas Christian.
10. What is Kansas coach Lance Leopold like?
Leopold and the Jayhawks missed his first Big 12 Media Days a year ago. Weather kept the KU contingent from getting to Dallas the morning of the event. So the media chatted with Leopold via Zoom. A very big Zoom. Better planning this year. The Jayhawks flew down Tuesday night.
11. Will West Virginia give us any clues about Cincinnati?
UC joins the Big 12 in 2023. The Bearcats and Mountaineers were Big East mates for several years, before WVU jumped to the Big 12. West Virginia always was a much more advanced football program, but now Cincinnati is coming off a College Football Playoff appearance and is riding high under coach Luke Fickell. What can WVU tell us about Cincinnati?
12. Is Matt Campbell unchanged after a rocky Iowa State season?
The Cyclones entered the 2021 season a top-10 team. ISU slipped all the way to 7-6, a massively disappointing season.The good news? It helped keep Campbell in Ames. Is his message still the same as he tackles one of college football’s most difficult jobs?