Big 12 chief backs College Football Playoff expansion, new format

How to expand the College Football Playoff has been a major subject of debate during the offseason, but there seems to be a growing consensus on how to do it.

Big 12 commissioner Brett Yormark once again endorsed his preference, to enlarge the postseason to 16 teams and embrace the so-called “5+11” format.

That would award five guaranteed places to conference champions, and the other 11 places in a series of at-large bids chosen by members of the selection committee.

“Maybe there’s some changes, modifications, to make it even better. Obviously, it’s been very public about what the future format might look like. I do like a 16-team format,” Yormark said on ESPN. 

“I think more access is good and it’s not dilutive. But I’ve been very adamant about 5+11 and I think that is the fair approach to take.

“And I know fans want it. They want fairness. They want teams to win it on the field and they don’t want anything predetermined. So I’m all in on the 5+11 and I’ll keep doubling down on it.”

How playoff teams are selected has been a sharp dividing line among college football’s decision makers, with the SEC and Big Ten clearly off to one, more powerful, side, and everybody else on the other.

Until now, both the SEC and Big Ten have supported a system in which they each receive four automatic qualifiers, with the ACC and Big 12 getting two each, one for the Group of Six champion, and three remaining at-large bids.

Naturally, the ACC and Big 12 took exception to that idea, and then it appeared the SEC was starting to lean their way, too.

A major recent shift of opinion inside the SEC has apparently changed that narrative after it emerged the conference is thinking of moving away from the idea.

Then, SEC commissioner Greg Sankey himself remarked that he was against the idea of handing out what he called “allocations” based on conference membership.

That puts the SEC and its principal decision makers in line with the ACC and Big 12, who understandably were against the uneven auto bid proposal from the start.

One other constituency that pushed back against the four auto bids apparently came from within the conference, as SEC football coaches were of the general opinion that any system of multiple guaranteed spots contradicted the ideal of on-field competition.

A consensus appears to be building on how to expand college football’s national championship race, but there’s a long way to go before it becomes a reality.

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