The commissioners of the Big Ten and Big 12 couldn’t be farther apart on what they think is best for the future of the College Football Playoff.

With a Dec. 1 deadline looming to decide on the structure of an expanded, 16-team format in 2026, CFP leaders appear to remain divided.

Big 12 commissioner Brett Yormark, speaking at the conference’s football media days on Tuesday, said he is “doubling down” on the proposed 5+11 CFP format, which would include automatic spots for the 5 highest-ranked conference champions and 11 at-large bids.

Just last week, Big Ten commissioner Tony Petitti criticized that format, instead voicing his support for a format that would give the Big Ten and SEC four automatic spots each. Petitti specifically mentioned his concern with giving the CFP selection committee extra responsibilities. “If you go to 16, and you have 11 at-large, you just added even more decision-making,” he said on The Joel Klatt Show.

Creating more automatic qualifiers would make the CFP more like the NFL playoffs, but Yormark doesn’t think that’s necessary. “We do not need a professional model because we are not the NFL,” he said. “We are college football, and we must act like it.”

Conference Call

The 5+11 model has previously also received strong support from ACC commissioner Jim Phillips, and SEC commissioner Greg Sankey has given it life, too. Sankey will speak at next week’s SEC media days, so what he has to say on the matter then will be important.

Decision-making power of the CFP in 2026 is shifting to the SEC and Big Ten, which combined will have the majority of control. For that reason, it would seem important that those two conferences be aligned on the CFP’s future format.

The Browns’ plan to relocate to suburban Brook Park, Ohio, and build a $2.4 billion domed stadium and mixed-use development has moved from one legal quagmire to potentially another. 

As expected, a recently approved state plan to provide $600 million toward the stadium project, backed by funds from an account of unclaimed funds, has generated a lawsuit. A group of former Democratic lawmakers in Ohio has followed through on a prior threat to challenge the use of that money, filing a lawsuit in Franklin County Common Pleas Court against several state officials and claiming the plan is unconstitutional on both the state and federal levels. 

The unclaimed funds are derived from sources such as utility deposits, uncashed cashier’s checks, and forgotten bank accounts, with Ohio currently holding nearly $5 billion of such money. For the new Browns stadium, some of those funds would be used to help support stadium construction, and then repaid through future tax revenues generated at the venue. 

”The state now intends to confiscate the private property … for the purpose of funding a private development, depriving the rightful owners of their property,” the lawsuit reads in part. “The state intends to do so, even though it has long been settled that funds held by the state of Ohio in its ‘unclaimed funds’ account are private property.”

The lawsuit seeks class-action status and an injunction to block the use of the unclaimed funds, and it says the public-sector costs will ultimately exceed $1 billion when factoring in additional related costs. 

“The state of Ohio intends to steal over a billion dollars in private property from its citizens and pour it into the pockets of [Browns owner] Jimmy Haslam, one of America’s richest men,” said Jeffrey Crossman, former Ohio legislator and part of the group that filed the lawsuit. “Everyday Ohioans are outraged by this blatant abuse of power. The government can’t just take someone’s property and give it to someone else.”

The legal challenge closely follows the approval of the Ohio budget that included not only the Browns stadium funding, but also changed elements of the state’s Modell Law to apply limitations on pro teams in the state relocating only if they intend to leave Ohio entirely. That shift in the Modell Law essentially mooted a prior lawsuit from the city of Cleveland, which had argued the Browns’ intended move to the suburbs was unlawful. 

Ohio Attorney General Dave Yost has opposed the use of the unclaimed funds and called it “poor public policy,” but still believed it was legal. Along similar lines, Gov. Mike DeWine previously said he anticipated the lawsuit as the recent state budget process unfolded.

“I’m sure that will be tested in court, if that’s what we end up doing—if that’s what the legislature ends up doing,” DeWine said last month regarding the use of unclaimed funds. “So I’m sure that will be tested. But that’s nothing. A lot of things get tested in court.”

A run of new NFL uniforms will be unveiled over the next several weeks, taking full advantage of a recently revised league policy and once more tapping into fans’ strong desire for throwback and alternate looks.

The Commanders began the spurt Wednesday with an alternate “Super Bowl Era” uniform set that will be worn for three nationally broadcast games this season, and heavily recalls the team’s glory days of the 1980s and early 1990s.

Washington’s release was the first of eight such unveilings expected this summer as the start of training camps approaches and anticipation builds for the 2025 NFL season. The Saints quickly followed suit on Wednesday with an alternate white helmet. Other teams planning alternate helmet or uniform releases soon include the Browns, Buccaneers, Chargers, Packers, Seahawks, and Steelers. 

In addition, another seven NFL teams—the Bills, Cardinals, Dolphins, Jets, Patriots, Rams, and 49ers—will have newly created alternate looks for 2025 as part of a multiyear “Rivalries” program announced in April with uniform supplier Nike that looks to further showcase intra-division games.

In many instances, these teams will be taking advantage of a new NFL rule approved at the league’s annual meeting this past spring. Teams will be allowed to wear alternate uniforms as many as four times during the regular season, up from a prior three times per club. Teams also gained approval to wear alternate helmets with primary home and road jerseys, creating many additional potential uniform combinations. 

Alternates and throwbacks amount to as much as 30% of all NFL jersey sales—a figure outstripping their presence on the field and showing their outsized popularity with fans. 

Bigger Politics 

For the Commanders, the new uniforms reflect an ongoing desire by team owner Josh Harris to tap into the team’s storied history as much as possible, without reverting to its prior name. That sentiment also includes an ongoing plan to return to the site of its former home, RFK Stadium, in a new venue, though political battles continue regarding the funding plan for that effort. 

“Ever since Josh Harris and our ownership group acquired the team back in 2023, they’ve placed great value in finding ways to connect the past and present and pay homage to those that made the burgundy and gold what it is today,” said Commanders president Mark Clouse. 

The alternate Commanders uniforms will be worn for Sunday Night Football home games on Nov. 2 against the Seahawks and Nov. 30 against the Broncos, and a Christmas Day game, also at Northwest Stadium, on Netflix against the archrival Cowboys. The latter game in particular is a key part of the overall 2025 NFL schedule. 

U.S. President Donald Trump, however, has continued to call on the team to restore its prior nickname, similar to how he has reverted several military bases to their prior identities that have been questioned on racial lines. 

“I wouldn’t have changed the name,” Trump said of the team last weekend. “It just doesn’t have the same ring to me.”

Under the Commanders name introduced in 2022, the team last year had its most successful season in more than three decades and reached the NFC championship game.

Amid its worst season in a decade, Red Bull Racing decided it was time to make a leadership change.

The team announced that it has sacked team principal Christian Horner, who has held the role since 2005. Horner led Red Bull to eight drivers’ championships and six constructors’ championships (2010–13, 2022–23).

However, halfway through the 2025 season, Red Bull sits at fourth in the constructors’ championship standings. The team has not finished below the top three since 2015. 

“We would like to thank Christian Horner for his exceptional work over the last 20 years,” Oliver Mintzlaff, Red Bull CEO of corporate projects and investments, said in a statement. “With his tireless commitment, experience, expertise, and innovative thinking, he has been instrumental in establishing Red Bull Racing as one of the most successful and attractive teams in Formula 1.”

Max Verstappen has kept Red Bull in the fight, scoring 165 of the team’s 172 points this year. But the four-time defending world champion has won just two races this year and has missed the podium in four of the last five races.

His future with the team has also been in question despite being under contract until 2028. Two weeks ago, Mercedes team principal Toto Wolff said the team is “exploring” Verstappen’s future plans. Verstappen and Mercedes have been linked since last season.

The contracts of both Mercedes drivers—George Russell and Kimi Antonelli—expire at the end of this season. However, Russell, who has publicly clashed with Verstappen over the last year, has expressed confidence in his return to the German automaker.

“The likelihood I’m not at Mercedes next year, I think, is exceptionally low,” Russell said before the British Grand Prix.

Several high-level executives have departed from Red Bull over the last two seasons. Legendary race engineer Adrian Newey left for Aston Martin, while former Red Bull sporting director Jonathan Wheatley was appointed the team principal of Sauber this season.