Joel Klatt explains why it's 'absolutely bananas' for Big 12 to support 5+11 CFP format

The impending expansion of the College Football Playoff has drawn plenty of discussion. Much of that has centered around the SEC and Big Ten, but other power conferences like the Big 12 are also looking to have their say.

The Big 12, in particular, has been in favor of the 5+11 CFP format, which would give five automatic bids, or one per power conference, and the Group of Five along with 11 at-large bids. That’s a decision that analyst Joel Klatt doesn’t understand, given where the Big 12 stands in the sport, as he explained on The Joel Klatt Show.

“I think it is absolutely bananas that the Big 12 and their ADs and their coaches would argue for this,” Joel Klatt said. “Because they’re going to get crushed by this. If you want the sport to continue coalescing power in only two power conferences, then go to a 5+11 model. Because that’s exactly what will happen.”

The basic concern that Klatt has for the Big 12 in the 5+11 model is that the conference will only get one bid. That’s when the other option appears to be a model that would include four bids of the SEC and Big Ten, two for the Big 12 and ACC, and one for the Group of Five to go along with three at-large bids.

“Right now, I believe, there’s a bit of a fork in the road. With the differences in money and revenue more specifically that is clearly going to take place in distribution between the SEC, Big Ten, and then the other Power Four conferences, the ACC and the Big 12, you can in theory say that maybe that gap is even going to grow in coming years. Right now, we might be closer to one another than we will be in five years. Now, that’s not a guarantee, and maybe they would argue, ‘No. We’re gonna invest and we’re gonna be even better in the future.’ Okay. You know what? That’s fine,” Klatt said.

“But think about the gamble that putting the sport in the boardroom is for the Big 12 and the ACC. If they’re going to take a position that the 5+11 model… is better for the sport, then I think more often than not, we’re gonna have years like we had last year, in which we would have had I believe it’s six teams from the SEC, three teams from the ACC, four teams from the Big Ten, and guess what the Big 12 got? One. They would have gotten one team in last year. Even in an expanded 16-team field and even with 11 at-large bids. You go back to 2023. How many teams would they have gotten in a 5+11 model? One. One team.”

Ultimately, the Big 12 is making a bet by pushing for the 5+11 model. They’re betting that, in the future, they’ll get at least one of those at-large bids each season and potentially more than that. That’s a gamble Klatt wouldn’t take.

Yet, here we are, trying to guarantee them two spots,” Klatt said. “And they’re gonna argue for a model where they get one? Here’s the bet. Over the course of, let’s just call it five years. Over the course of five years, I can guarantee these conferences two spots every single year. So, they’re gonna get 10 Playoff teams. By the way, there was that stipulation there’s three at-large bids, there’s a chance for a third. Now, it might be unlikely, but there is a chance for a third, but you’re guaranteed two. So, at a minimum, you’re going to get two Playoff teams every single year in a model that is 4+4+2+2+1+3. We go to that.”

Ultimately, there are a few reasons to avoid the model that guarantees two Big 12 teams make the Playoff. Commissioner Brett Yormark shared that the conference decided, “We don’t want any gimmes. We want to earn it on the field.” On top of that, he emphasized that he believes this is going to be the more fair model.

“Now, what they want is a model that doesn’t guarantee them two,” Klatt said. “And in the last two years would have notched them only one Playoff berth. So, the bet that Brett Yormark and the Big 12 stakeholders want to make is that they’re gonna get more than two teams over a five-year rolling term in a 5+11 model. What planet are we living on? No. That is not the case. It’s just not. If they wanted to argue for anything. If they wanted to earn it on the field, they should be arguing for the two model, and maybe even a two-and-a-half model.”

Ultimately, the future of the College Football Playoff remains a mystery. The question is whether administrators will push what’s best for them or all of college football. Yormark has said that he believes 5+11 is best for the sport. Klatt doesn’t think it’s best for the Big 12, though.