Leaders Are Looking to the Future as the CFP 5+11 Model Gains Traction

After this week’s SEC spring meetings, a 16-team CFP model that includes the top five conference winners and 11 at-large teams is gaining traction. However, the next phase of playoff expansion for 2026 and beyond will rely on how quickly the sport’s leaders can make a flurry of decisions.

One important factor is the SEC’s decision to continue with eight conference games or go to nine. According to ACC sources, this issue may be brought up again in their league after years of dormancy if playoff expansion is the impetus.

One aspect of scheduling that all conferences appear to agree upon is the necessity of clarity regarding the CFP selection committee’s ranking of its teams, beginning with the application and determination of schedule strength.

Currently, the committee’s vague protocol—wording the FBS commissioners wrote at the start of the four-team playoff in 2014—does not take into account a number of considerations, including schedule strength. If the committee doesn’t penalize clubs for losing two or three games against formidable opponents, several athletic directors in the SEC and ACC believe that switching to nine conference games is possible.

At his league’s spring meetings this week, Big 12 commissioner Brett Yormark openly endorsed a 5+11 approach, according to several ACC sources.

Yormark stated to ESPN: “It has always been our first choice,”. “It’s fair and rewards on-field performance. I’m not surprised SEC coaches like it.”

The administrators of the Big 12 concur. Terry Mohajir, athletic director at UCF, stated: “The construct of the CFP wasn’t to give one or two conferences more value. It was supposed to be the best way to conduct a real national championship, “I think a 5+11 is the best way to do that, and it gets the best teams in.”

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