Big 12 commissioner Brett Yormark used the league’s media day in Frisco, Texas, to "double down" on a 5+11 framework for an eventual 16-team College Football Playoff, saying the format—five automatic bids for the highest-ranked conference champions and 11 at-large selections—"is fair" and keeps the sport’s emphasis on earning berths on the field. The plan, developed with the ACC, competes with a Big Ten-backed proposal that would guarantee four automatic slots each to the Big Ten and SEC and two apiece to the Big 12 and ACC. Yormark said conference leaders and Notre Dame athletic director Pete Bevacqua must settle the 2026 playoff structure by 1 Dec 2025 and expressed confidence the field will expand to 16 teams under the 5+11 alignment. "We do not need a professional model because we are not the NFL," he told reporters, adding that the CFP committee is auditing its selection metrics to improve transparency before format talks conclude. The commissioner also predicted the Big 12 will send "multiple" teams to this season’s 12-team playoff after landing only one—Arizona State—last year. Pointing to returning quarterback depth, he called the Big 12 "the deepest football conference in America." Yormark confirmed the league has abandoned its preseason media poll, arguing that Arizona State’s No. 16 projection in 2024 "hurt" the Sun Devils’ perception, and reiterated that the conference "remains open for business" on future expansion.