FRISCO, Texas — Like any good commissioner, Big 12 boss Brett Yormark is open to new things.
Last year at Big 12 media days he was firm about a 16-team College Football Playoff as the right path forward. A year later, he is now leaning toward the potential of a 24-team playoff.
So what’s changed? The makeup of a potential 24-team playoff.
“I liked 16 initially,” Yormark said. “As I learned more about it — obviously without the additional AQ’s (automatic qualifiers), when 24 became part of the conversation, we’ve done our due diligence around it, and we think it might be a great fit for us.”
Why Brett Yormark Favors 24-Team Playoff
The 24-team College Football Playoff was first proposed by the Big Ten and at this time last year the other three power conferences were squarely against it. The reason was simple. The Big Ten’s original proposal favored the Big Ten and the SEC, who would get four automatic qualifying bids while the Big 12 and the ACC would get two.
It was a format that Yormark didn’t favor because of the unequal access. Now, the proposed format has changed. The Big Ten signaled privately earlier this year that it was open to a format that provided equal access to all power conferences. Now, the potential 24-team format is a 23-plus-1 format in which the Top 23 players in the final CFP rankings, plus the top Group of 6 program, would be invited to the playoff.
Had that format been used last year five Big 12 teams would have been invited. That’s part of the reason all 16 coaches approved support of the format at May’s annual business meeting.
“More access is needed as too many great teams are being left out,” Yormark said.
The conversations are continuing about format beyond 2026, which is a 12-team format and will offer an automatic bid to each of the four power conferences, a bid to the highest-ranked Group of Six team and then at-large bids to the remaining field. Yormark said he doesn’t have a “crystal ball” for the future of the playoff, but he knows there are other considerations.
That includes how a 24-team playoff might affect the regular season. The NCAA approved the use of Zero week without a waiver for the 2027 season. That will allow all teams to start the season the weekend before Labor Day weekend. But there’s another issue that could impact the Big 12.
A 24-team playoff could cause the elimination of conference title games, which Yormark said has been a huge revenue generator for the league. Last year’s game drew more than 85,000 people, the highest attended power conference championship game in history.
“We do need to understand the economics — is there a marketplace to go to 24 teams?” he said. “We have to understand the scheduling dynamic, what that means and the unintended consequences which I said earlier as it relates to our championship game.”
But, as he often does, he left all the league’s options open.
“We’ve got to look at what we have, what potentially we might gain and ultimately make the best decision for the Big 12,” Yormark said. “But everything’s on the table.”
