Big 12 commissioner Brett Yormark doubled down on the conference’s preferred College Football Playoff model as he kicked off Big 12 media days in Frisco, Texas.
Pacing the stage at Ford Center at The Star — home of the Dallas Cowboys’ practice facility — the Big 12’s boss reiterated that the conference prefers the “5 + 11” model for future 16-team College Football Playoff expansion.
The proposed “5+ 11” model would give an automatic bid to the five highest-ranked conference championships, similar to the current 12-team CFP. The other 11 bids would be awarded to the next 11 highest-ranked teams.
That model started gaining traction after the SEC’s coaches voiced support for it at the conference’s spring meetings.
Meanwhile, the Big Ten was pushing for a model that would give four automatic bids for both the SEC and the Big Ten, with the other two Power Four conferences, the Big 12 and ACC, having two automatic bids. The highest-ranked Group of Five would have one automatic bid, and the three remaining highest-ranked teams would fill out the rest of the field.
While that model would give the Big 12 two guaranteed teams, Yormark rejected that plan, saying “we want to earn it on the field.”
“I fully expect the Big 12 to earn multiple College Football Playoff bids this year and to show once again that we can compete with anyone. Speaking of the CFP, we continue to believe the 5-11 model proposed by the Big 12 and the ACC is the right playoff format for college football. We want to earn it on the field,” Yormark said on Tuesday.
In a time where college football looks more like the NFL than ever, with schools able to directly pay players starting on July 1, Yormark pushed back on the “professionalization” of the sport that could come with the Big Ten’s 4-4-2-2-1’s playoff model.
“We do not need a professional model because we are not the NFL. We are college football and we must act like it. There is nothing in sports like college football and we must protect what makes it special and do what’s right for the fans and the game,” Yormark said.
In the first year of the expanded 12-team playoff last season, the Big 12 had just one team selected — Arizona State, which won the conference last season.
Responding to a question about how the CFP committee “didn’t show much respect to the Big 12 in its final rankings,” Yormark said while the “5 + 11” format “might not be the best solution today for the Big 12 given your comments about (automatic qualifiers), but long-term, knowing the progress we’re making, the investments we’re making, it’s the right format for us.”
Yormark also said that the CFP is doing a “full audit of the selection process to figure out how they can modernize and contemporize and how they use data and how certain metrics can be more heavily weighted.”
“I think as you look at how things are weighted at different metrics, strength of schedule matters and there’s some new metrics that are going to be brought into the puzzle I think as well to compliment what’s already there. So again, I’m confident we’ll get to the right place and ultimately I’m confident we’ll go to 5-11,” Yormark said.
Other highlights from Yormark’s press conference at Big 12 media days
On the College Sports Commission, which will regulate revenue-sharing and NIL:
“One of the primary goals of CSC is to change the market from pay for play to a market of true third-party NIL. The CSC’s enforcement of punitive measures towards those who break the rules will change behavior in college athletics. It is crucial that CSC leadership, my Power Four colleagues and I continue to spend the time necessary to guide and partner with our schools into this new age of college athletics. Alongside the CSC, we will still need congressional help and we continue to work towards that. This is a defining moment for all of us and one that we need to take full advantage of.”
On if it’s “critical for the league to have one or two brands that emerge annually as playoff contenders”:
“Critical. I like how you stated that. 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’ll emerge as elite schools that are always part of the conversations at the highest levels and that’s what we’re working towards.
“But it starts with parity and being competitive top to bottom. And I think we’re there and I think we’re the best in the conference or in the country when you think about how deep we are top to bottom. But I do believe that long term you need certain schools to emerge to the top. And I think we’re getting there.”
On the Big 12’s position among the conferences:
“Establishing and maintaining our position within the Power Four also remains a key priority for us and frankly, I feel better about our position than ever before. I will continue to collaborate with my commissioner colleagues on a new governance model that will provide the power for with more autonomy and influence around decision-making in key areas. We anticipate this being done sometime in August.”
On why the conference did away with its annual preseason poll:
“I think it disadvantaged Arizona State. Last year they were picked (No.) 16 and I think that hurt them. Scott Draper, our chief competition officer and I discussed this. I think there’s no value. And I also feel that with the transfer portal and with roster management and what goes on as you build that roster, no one knows what they really have. They know what they have. On paper, it hasn’t played out. And that was the case with Arizona State last year. So I don’t know if it’s a trend or not, but certainly it’s the right thing for the Big 12.”