KANSAS CITY, Mo. -- Big 12 commissioner Brett Yormark wanted the league's postseason tournament to reflect his idealized version of the league -- young, hip, upscale and current -- and that spilled like a bucket of paint onto the floor this week.
Goodbye, clean and traditional hardwood. Welcome, a court emblazoned with hundreds of XII logos that stretch from baseline to baseline and result in a polarizing look that is Louis Vuitton-like to some fans and an abhorrent eyesore to others.
"That court isn't about me. It's about our student-athletes," Yormark said Tuesday, shortly before Cincinnati and Oklahoma State stepped onto it for the first game in the newly expanded 16-team Big 12 tournament.