College football expansion debate re-ignited by Big 12 commissioner
Big 12 Commissioner Brett Yormark has re-ignited the debate over the expansion of the College Football Playoff and how it should be structured. He leaned into his preferred format choice just a few minutes into his opening address at the conference football media day event.
What format is the Big 12 proposing?
Yormark said, “5-11 is fair,” adding, “We want to earn it on the field. It might not be the best solution today for the Big 12, but long term, knowing the progress we’re making, the investments we’re making, it’s the right format for us. And I’m doubling down today on 5-11.”
The term “5-11” refers to a format with five automatic bids for conference champions and 11 at-large bids, filling out what would be a 16-team playoff field starting with the 2026 season. The Big 12 and ACC are the two conferences proposing this format in an attempt to head off what the Big Ten and the SEC believe is the best solution.
The Big Ten and the SEC hold the most sway in expansion talks, and they want to see four automatic qualifiers earn bids from each of their leagues, along with two each from the Big 12 and the ACC. Adding Notre Dame as an automatic would leave just three at-large bids in that scenario.
The initial 12-team playoff kicked off in 2024 and ended four weeks later with the National Championship game between Ohio State and Notre Dame. Ohio State won the title, 34-23. The format featured four teams that earned first-round byes after winning their conference championships. All four teams lost their first matchups in the playoffs.
What do some of the coaches think about expansion?
During the Big 12 media interview sessions, Kansas State head coach Chris Klieman didn’t have an opinion on how the playoff should be set up going forward but brought up another expansion concern.
The wear and tear on the athletes is real,” Klieman said. “I don’t think we help that at all by knocking the roster size down. I don’t think that was a good move at all, but that’s control what you can control. So, that’s going to be a concern when you have fewer players playing that amount of games. But I’m excited about what I was able to watch last year of the playoff and the potential expansion here in another year.”
The Big 12 Conference had only one representative — league champion Arizona State — in the inaugural playoff last year. The Sun Devils lost to Texas in the quarterfinals in double overtime. Yormark said that reaching a point where several teams are in the discussion each year is how his conference can maximize whatever format the new playoff may take.
“I think parity matters, and I think ultimately over time, and it’s hopefully sooner than later, there’ll be a couple of our schools that will emerge as elite schools that are always part of the conversations at the highest levels, and that’s what we’re working towards,” Yormark said. “But it starts with parity and being competitive top to bottom. And I think we’re there.”
The conference opens play with a rivalry game on Saturday, August 23, between Kansas State and Iowa State in Dublin, Ireland.
What are the next steps in the expansion process?
Yormark believes the Big 12 is the “deepest conference in America” and said that in addition to schedule strength, “new metrics” will be added to the selection process to ensure fairness.
“I have a lot of faith in the selection process,” Yormark said. “They are doing a full audit to figure out how they can modernize and contemporize and how they use data and how certain metrics can be more heavily weighted.”
He also said he was confident conference commissioners will eventually settle on the 5-11 model. They have until December of this year to decide which 16-team format to adopt.
Ella Rae Greene, Editor In Chief
