With ESPN investing $7.8 billion in the expanded playoff (per The Athletic) and pressuring conferences to grow, college football fans should finally put to bed the argument that the regular season will lose its significance. Why? Because while the argument seems logical and sometimes valid, what’s the point of voicing your opinion when no one is listening? So now, the discussion has moved to an expanded structure. One being with 14 teams with a 4-4-2-2-1-1 format and the other with a 5+11 format, expanded to 16 teams. Brett Yormark, having already endorsed the 5+11 format, has now come out explaining why he rejected the 14-team structure.
The 4 power conferences had always been at odds on the structure by which the playoff would expand. The Big 10 was pushing a 4-team AQ format, which would have guaranteed them 4 automatic bids. SEC also supported them for a while, but it all changed when the SEC’s major representatives met last month in Orlando, Florida.
The SEC commissioner Greg Sankey came out with a statement supporting the 5+11 format, putting an end to the potential discussions on the 4-4-2-2-1-1 format. What was more perplexing were the words Sankey chose to show aversion to automatic bids and said, “Granting spots, that makes zero sense. Football has never been about gifting. It’s about earning,” said Sankey. Other conferences then quickly followed suit, and the Big 12’s commissioner, Brett Yormark, finally endorsed the idea of the 5+11 format. And now? The commissioner has come out with a statement highlighting why he despises the 14-team format.
“I didn’t like it because I just felt that it created a huge divide between us and those two conferences. Now, as you guys know, I have good self-awareness, and I know where we reside in the world of college football. But I just felt that it put a line in the sand that didn’t need to be there. I’m a firm believer in that you know if you create value, you should be rewarded, earn it on the field, okay, every year is a new year, and by the way, with settlement in theory it should be creating a level playing field across the board.” Yormark said, speaking on the 11th June podcast of ‘The Triple Option. But the 5+11 idea also has its flaws.
With the 4-4-2-2-1-1 format, Big 12 was getting 3 automatic bids, virtually eliminating the role of the CFP committee. But now with the 5+11 model, the Big 12 will be getting the one guaranteed bid. But the second spot might not be too easy to get. Why? Because the SEC and Big 10 have dominated the college football arena, winning 27 of the 33 previous national titles.
Moreover, just last season, 10 of the top 16 teams were from the Big 12 and the SEC. This essentially means that with an expanded 5+11 model, the guarantee wouldn’t be there for the Big 12 getting the second spot and getting a third? It will be herculean! Still, the Big 12 is growing, and Yormark just gave a massive update about that.
Big 12 commissioner Brett Yormark drops massive news about the Big 12’s $1 billion cash influx
The Big 12 might not be as competitive as the SEC or the Big 10, but it still is the power conference. It still has teams like Arizona State, Colorado, Texas Tech, and BYU. Arizona State even made it to the playoffs last season, and their running back, Cam Skattebo, even earned the MVP despite losing the game against Texas. So, the Cinderella stories were there, and now Brett Yormark plans to take it up a notch.
Yormark shared his plans for the Big 12 and said that he was looking at potential stakeholders to invest in the conference. Moreover, the Big 12 commissioner even announced that he plans to bring a strategic partner “that can help us grow our revenue” and who can also serve as a “capital partner”. Yormark, although denied sharing a stake in the conference and said that he has “pressed pause on that right now, but has done enough due diligence.” Lastly, the commissioner concluded that he knew exactly where to go “if there was a moment in time where we wanted to go down a particular path.” So, who’s the ‘capital partner’?
Yahoo Sports reported recently that the Big 12 was considering a private equity investment with a cash infusion of between $800 million and $1 billion. The firm was reported to be Luxembourg-based CVC Capital Partners, which was eyeing the deal in exchange for 15-20% of the stake in the conference. The report was widely circulated on the internet, and people had sharp reactions to selling the stake. Other stakeholders are also being discussed with RedBird Capital, whose sports portfolio includes Italian soccer giant AC Milan.
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