Big 12 Commissioner Brett Yormark addresses the media during the 2025 Big 12 Football Media Days at The Star. Raymond Carlin III-Imagn Images

Big 12 commissioner is 'doubling down' on support for new College Football Playoff format

Originally posted on Utah Utes on SI | By Cole Forsman | Last updated Jul 8, 2025 2:06 PM ET

Big 12 commissioner Brett Yormark is "doubling down" on his support for a new College Football Playoff format dubbed the "5+11" model.

The Big 12 and ACC have pushed the model, which would award automatic bids to the five highest-ranked conference champions, and 11 at-large bids determined by the CFP selection committee. The Big Ten, however, has put more focus on a format that would award four automatic bids to Big Ten and SEC teams, and two to the Big 12 and ACC.

About a month after Utah athletic director Mark Harlan voiced his support for the 5+11 postseason model, Yormark reiterated where the Big 12 stands during the league's media days in Orlando, Florida, this week.

"We continue to believe the 5+11 model proposed by the Big 12 and the ACC is the right playoff format for college football," Yormark said. "We want to earn it on the field."

"We do not need a professional model, because we are not the NFL," Yormark said. "We are college football, and we must act like it."

According to the latest projections from ESPN FPI, only one Big 12 team — Kansas State — has greater than a 22% chance of making the 12-team CFP next season. Yormark, though, expects the league to exceed expectations in 2025-26.

"I fully expect the Big 12 to earn multiple playoff bids this year and show once again, we can compete with anyone," Yormark said.

The Big 12 comes off a 2024-25 campaign in which it struggled against the SEC and Big Ten, the two conferences that hold authority over any future postseason format. The Big 12 went 2-5 overall against the SEC, with its two victories coming over 2-10 Mississippi State and 7-6 Arkansas. Big 10 foes went 3-1 against the Big 12 in the regular season, though Kansas State earned the Big 12 a victory over the Big 10 in the postseason by taking down Rutgers, 44-41, in the Rate Bowl.

The Utes open their 2025 campaign against a Big Ten opponent on Aug. 30, when they take on UCLA at the Rose Bowl.