CFP 5+11 style gaining traction amongst leaders

DESTIN, Fla. — A 16-team College Football Playoff style that includes the highest 5 convention champions and 11 at-large groups is gaining traction following SEC spring conferences this week, however your next step in playoff enlargement for 2026 and past relies on how temporarily the game’s leaders could make a flurry of selections.

A essential element is the SEC’s selection between staying at 8 league video games or shifting to 9, a subject matter ACC assets say might be revisited of their league after years of being dormant if precipitated via playoff enlargement. The linchpin to these scheduling selections is something each and every convention turns out to agree on: the desire for readability about how the CFP variety committee ranks its groups, beginning with how energy of agenda is made up our minds and carried out.

“I do think there’s a need for change,” SEC commissioner Greg Sankey stated of the score protocol Thursday on the conclusion of his league’s spring conferences. “… How do you make those decisions? It’s hard, and we trust the committee to do that, and I respect the people in there, so this isn’t a criticism of the people. This is wanting to understand the decisions. We have to have better clarity on the criteria that inform those decisions.”

Currently, energy of agenda is considered one of a number of elements now not weighed within the committee’s ambiguous protocol — language the FBS commissioners wrote on the inception of the four-team playoff in 2014. There’s a way amongst some athletic administrators within the SEC and ACC that shifting to 9 convention video games is possible — if the committee does not penalize groups for shedding two or 3 video games in opposition to robust combatants.

Some SEC athletic administrators wired this week that they might best want a nine-game league agenda if the convention is assured 4 playoff spots — additionally the Big Ten’s most well-liked style.

“If we’re not confident that the decision-making about who gets in and why and what are the metrics around it, it’s going to be really hard for some of my colleagues to get to the nine games,” Texas A&M athletic director Trev Alberts stated. “We’ve got a timeline that’s getting tight, and we recognize that. It seems like everything is coming to a head. In a way it’s a little bit frustrating, in another way it feels good because eventually, it feels like we’re actually going to get some of this dealt with.”

CFP leaders have set Dec. 1 as a time limit to resolve the long run structure, and Sankey stated he needs to make a scheduling choice in 2026, however did not specify when. The FBS commissioners and Notre Dame athletic director Pete Bevacqua are scheduled to fulfill in particular person June 18 in Asheville, North Carolina.

Sankey used to be requested if his convention shall be unified on a structure via then.

“We’ll see,” Sankey stated.

Multiple ACC assets stated the convention would favor a 5+11 style, and Big 12 commissioner Brett Yormark has publicly supported it at his league’s spring conferences this week.

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

The Big 12’s directors agree.

“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,” UCF athletic director Terry Mohajir stated. “I think a 5+11 is the best way to do that, and it gets the best teams in.”

If Sankey can get his athletic administrators at the similar web page as his coaches, who this week voiced robust improve for a 5+11 style (however with 8 convention video games), the Big Ten would most probably be the lone league within the room pushing computerized qualifiers.

“[We’re] kind of important,” Sankey stated, “a bit important in that decision.”

The Big Ten and SEC have the majority of keep watch over over the playoff’s structure in 2026 and past, one thing the opposite FBS commissioners and Bevacqua agreed to once they signed a memorandum of figuring out for the brand new six-year deal.

“If we do want to have a national tournament, we do have to get everyone on the same page and everyone has to work together,” Florida athletic director Scott Stricklin stated.

The ACC’s concerns of a nine-game league agenda have been tabled for a couple of years for a couple of causes. Several colleges have already got present rivalries with SEC colleges, plus there’s a integrated settlement with Notre Dame. The ACC does not essentially must come to a decision that for the 2026 season. It’s one thing that may be phased in, in line with a supply.

Alabama athletic director Greg Byrne stated two of his major priorities because the playoff discussions transfer ahead are get admission to and having “a pretty clear understanding of what gets you in, what doesn’t.”

“I know last year I talked about a lot of what I read was two versus three losses, and that was concerning,” Byrne stated. “Granted, ultimately, it’s up to you and the play you have on the field, and you have to recognize that, but I also do believe that when you looked at the bullet points for the CFP, strength of schedule was the first bullet point listed. Trying to get some clear understanding of how is that weighed in the room is important. Our conference because of the play on the field has deserved the benefit of the doubt at times to be strongly considered for the CFP.”

On Thursday afternoon, the SEC supplied contributors of the media with a six-page packet that incorporated color-coded charts the usage of a couple of metrics as an instance the league’s dominant agenda energy. Sankey stated the duty for figuring out the CFP’s energy of agenda element is placing a stability “between human and machine,” relating to the previous BCS pc method.

“Whether you agree or not, that’s what we’re looking at,” Sankey stated of the packet, which incorporated ESPN’s Strength of Record, Bill Connelly’s SP+, Kenneth Massey’s metric, ESPN’s Football Power Index and ESPN’s Strength of Schedule metric. “That doesn’t mean every one of these should be inserted into the CFP, but I think you have to consider what it means, because there’s other ratings and evaluation tools we’ve looked at that are much like these results.”

While the problems are at the desk, the CFP’s control committee is infamous for lacking its personal points in time. Sankey this week did not rule out the opportunity of the 12-team CFP last in position in 2026.

“Can I see a scenario? Sure, I can see a scenario,” Sankey stated. “But is that the most likely scenario? Come back for more. I said — genuinely — we’re interested in a model. We’re not committed to that model, and you’ve seen that play out this week, where people have different ideas.”

The query is that if the Power 4 leagues can put their variations apart — temporarily.

“We need to work well together,” Sankey stated. “The emotional maturity needed right now is higher than ever.”

ESPN’s Andrea Adelson contributed to this file.