Oct 22, 2024; Kansas City, MO, USA; Big 12 Commissioner Brett Yormark speaks to media during Big 12 Women’s Basketball Media Day at T-Mobile Center. Mandatory Credit: Jay Biggerstaff-Imagn Images
Big 12 commissioner Brett Yormark told CBS Sports’ Brandon Marcello that the conference’s athletic directors are aligned on a College Football Playoff format.
The league will battle for a format that features the five highest ranked conference champions along with 11 slots for at-large teams in a 16-team playoff.
Big 12 commissioner Brett Yormark tells @CBSSports he had a “great conversation” with the league’s athletic directors this morning and they are “aligned on our preference” for a 5+11 CFP model.
Big 12 coaches will meet with Yormark on Thursday to discuss further.
— Brandon Marcello (@bmarcello) May 28, 2025
This goes against the format that SEC and Big 10 athletic directors are battling for – which would award each of the leagues four automatic spots, while the Big 12 and ACC get only two.
This is all falling under the assumption that the league representatives (and Notre Dame AD) agree to an expansion to a 16-team playoff.
With SEC meetings going on, the topic is being widely discussed this week, and it’s not yet clear what changes will be made.
In fact, in a report ESPN’s Heather Dinich and Pete Thamel, SEC coaches are actually against the idea of the automatic qualifier format, which would also push the league to playing nine conference games, like each of the other power conferences.
SEC coaches are on the same side as the Big 12, coincidentally, with the thought that it’d be possible to get more than four teams into the playoff under the 5+11 format.
All of the sides have a responsibility to agree to a new format for 2026 and beyond by the December 1, 2025 deadline.
