BYU’s Kalani Sitake, Brian Santiago On Board With Big 12’s Playoff Pitch
May 30, 2025, 1:32 PM
ORLANDO, Fla. – The Big 12 Conference exits its annual Spring Meetings with support for a future College Football Playoff model.
Big 12 football wants a 16-team Playoff to begin in 2026. Diving deeper into the model, the Big 12 wants the future playoff to consist of five automatic qualifiers for conference champions and 11 at-large bids. It’s been referred to as “5+11.”
Big 12 wants the College Football Playoff to be 16 teams with a “five and 11” format in 2026
Now, the question remains, will the SEC and Big Ten, who have a memorandum of understanding that they can decide the format of the Playoff beginning in 2026, go that route? That’s to be determined.
Yormark, who is a member of the CFP’s Management Committee, said he was “glad to hear” that SEC coaches supported the “5+11” format the Big 12 was pushing this week from the Waldorf Astoria at Disney World.
The SEC was also holding their Spring Meetings this week, six hours east in Destin, Florida.
Kalani Sitake on CFP format: “Makes sense to go five and 11”
BYU head football coach Kalani Sitake and athletics director Brian Santiago support the Big 12’s vision for the College Football Playoff.
“For me, it makes sense to go five and 11,” BYU head football coach Kalani Sitake told KSL Sports at the Big 12 Meetings.
Sitake continued, “But in order for me to know more about why that’s the best fit, it’s good to consider all of these different options that everyone’s talking about. So the more I educate myself on it, the more I realize that the way to do it is basically to handle it on the field. And allow the teams to compete. Then I think that’s going to get you the best group to compete for a championship.”
The College Football Playoff for the 2025 season will be a 12-team field similar to the 2024 season, the first of the 12-team format.
However, in 2025, the seeding model will be different. Instead of the four highest-ranked conference champions receiving first-round byes, this season, it will be a straight-seeding model.
But that’s for only one year.
In 2026, it’s a new format again.
Along with the “5+11” model, there have been reports of a potential Playoff that includes four automatic bids each to the SEC and Big Ten, two automatic bids to the Big 12 and ACC, and one automatic qualifier for the Group of Six.
Instead of giving automatic qualifiers before a season starts, a “5+11” model requires teams to earn their place in the Playoff.
BYU AD Brian Santiago wants to see opportunities for everybody
BYU’s newly hired athletics director, Brian Santiago, wants equal opportunities for teams to chase championships.
“Commissioner Yormark shared a sentiment [on Wednesday] that we all feel strongly about. We want to see what’s very best for the game happen,” Santiago said to KSL Sports. “We want to see the very best opportunities. We want to see what’s showcased on the field rewarded so that everybody has an opportunity to win championships.”
Yormark, who completed his third year as Big 12 Commissioner, pointed out on Friday that there is still some time until a formal College Football Playoff format is decided for the 2026 season and beyond.
“It’s just still a work in progress. We do not need to notify ESPN, our media partner, about the format change until December,” Yormark said.
Mitch Harper is a BYU Insider for sports.ksl.com and hosts the Cougar Tracks Podcast (SUBSCRIBE) and Cougar Sports Saturday (12–3 p.m.) on KSL Newsradio. Follow Mitch’s coverage of BYU in the Big 12 Conference on X: @Mitch_Harper.
