Brett Yormark pushes back on SEC, Big Ten automatic qualifiers: 'I don't want an artificial championship'

There have been conversations made to once again adjust the College Football Playoff. That includes changing the seeding process or potentially expanding the field. One of those new ideas includes automatic qualifiers, which Big 12 Commissioner Brett Yormark has now come out strongly against.

Yormark appeared at the Big 12 Men’s Basketball Tournament, explaining that he doesn’t want to see an “artificial champion.” He also emphasized the need to do what’s right for college football as a whole.

“Recently, in Dallas, we met as a management committee and we’ve been vetting out lots of different possibilities,” Brett Yormark said. “The emphasis of that particular meeting was really about looking back at this season, which was incredible. ESPN did a fabulous job. I think they captured everything we were looking for with fan engagement, excitement, with the new 12-team format.”

In the current Playoff model, which was expanded in 2024 for the first time as a 12-team Playoff, the top five ranked conference champions make the field. The top four of those champions get the first four seeds and a bye week. The rest of the field is filled in by at-large bids and the final conference champion in the order the fall in the selection committee rankings. In it, there were four Big Ten teams, three SEC teams, two ACC teams, and one Big 12 team to make it to the Playoff last season.

The major conversation has been structured around a Playoff where the size would jump from 12 to 16 teams. There would be four SEC teams and Four Big Ten teams that would automatically qualify for the Playoff. Then, two Big 12 and two ACC schools would get those automatic bids. One Group of Five school would qualify, and then the rest of the field would be at-large.

“As we think about beyond, the one guiding principle for me and I think for the room is what’s in the best interest of college football? That’s what everyone should be focused on,” Yormark said. “We’re going to continue to vet out what that means and hopefully get to a great place in the next couple of months.”

For his part, Yormark is happy with the current 12-team format. However, he’s not entirely against changing the playoff format. What he’s against is automatic qualifiers creating, what he described as, an artificial championship.

“I like the 12-team format. I love it,” Yormark said. “Whether we go to 14 or expand the field, I don’t know, and obviously it’ll be a decision amongst the management committee. As it relates to the AQs, and I’ve been on the record saying this, I don’t want an artificial championship. I want people to earn their way in. I don’t want it being predetermined. That being said, I’m open to discussion. I want to weigh the pros and cons of lots of different scenarios. Then, as a collective group, make a decision on what’s right for college football.”

For the time being, no decision on the future of the College Football Playoff has been decided. Most experts expect that no changes will be made before the 2025 season, and some, like Rece Davis, doubt expansion will come in 2026.