Big 12 Coaches Unanimously Back 24-Team CFP Expansion

FRISCO, Texas — Big 12 coaches unanimously support a 24-team College Football Playoff, league leaders said Thursday after all 16 coaches convened during the third day of the conference’s spring meetings.

“We voted. It was unanimous,” said West Virginia’s Rich Rodriguez, who is chair of the coaches committee.
“Every coach voted for a 24-team playoff.”

The consensus among Big 12 coaches comes after the SEC’s spring meetings concluded with the majority of that conference’s coaches unsure of what the best CFP expansion number is. 

SEC commissioner Greg Sankey is a proponent of a 16-team model, while the Big 12’s Brett Yormark is now all-in on 24. “The commissioner’s very adamant on it,” Baylor coach Dave Aranda said.

Like last year, there is a Dec. 1 deadline for CFP leaders to decide on expanding beyond 12 teams for the 2027 season. However, that deadline is flexible, and was pushed back into late January this year before the decision was ultimately made to stay at 12 for the 2026 season.

Is Bigger Better?

CFP staff members were at the Big 12 spring meetings on Thursday and delivered a presentation about potential playoff expansion that lasted more than an hour.

Last season, conference champion Texas Tech was the only Big 12 team in the 12-team CFP. But the conference would have had five teams in a 24-team playoff, according to the CFP, which ranked the Big 12 second in its strength of conference metrics for the 2025 campaign.

“We’ve got a great conference and it’s unfortunate we weren’t represented with a couple teams last year,” Texas Tech coach Joey McGuire said. “And I think that’s one of the reasons we believe 24 teams is a better spot for us.”

CFP leaders would still need to determine whether a 24-team model would include automatic qualifiers or only at-large bids determined by the selection committee (outside of an AQ for the highest-ranked non-power conference teams).

“I’m confident that we’ll be well-represented in a 24-team playoff,” Big 12 chief competition officer Scott Draper said.