The future of College Football Playoffs has been a hot topic this offseason, and the model of what the extended model should look like is making all sorts of headlines. The two models offered are a 4-4-2-2-1-3 model and a 5-plus-11 model.
The 5+11 model is gaining a lot more traction lately, especially among college football coaches. The other model, focused on more automatic bids for large conferences, has greater support among athletic directors and administrators.
The difference between the two models is that coaches favor the more competitive model. At the same time, administrators care more about the business side and would like to have a guaranteed spot to make more money through the College Football Playoff. However, one of the most prominent voices in college football, Ohio State head coach Ryan Dayhas expressed his support for the guaranteed model just won the 2025 national championship.
“We’re in the Big Ten and we have 18 teams and some of the best programs in the country,” Ryan Day told ESPN. “I feel like we deserve at least four automatic qualifiers.
“You would have had at least a team or two (in the CFP) from there (the Pac-12), so it only makes sense when you have 18 teams, especially the quality of teams you would have in that many teams representing the Big Ten.”
Day’s reasoning for his support is that a CFP model with more automatic spots will benefit college football as a whole because it will encourage stronger non-conference scheduling, especially considering how different non-conference schedules can be.
Day is doing her best to be a cheerleader for her conference after winning the national championship. This also benefits Ohio State football to continue to promote the hype about how great the Big Ten is. This seems to be the reasoning behind it, even though Day constantly refers to the “good of sport.”
It’s worth noting that the Big 12 and ACC want to move to the 5+11 model no matter what. The Big Ten and SEC are at odds over their respective schedules, as the SEC would determine where the format goes. The Big Ten will only go to the 5+11 model if the SEC plays nine conference games.
Conferences have a long way to go in deciding what happens with the College Football Playoff. Yet the problem is that a conference “deserves” a certain number of applications, which is why the 5+11 model is gaining popularity and Day’s comments have already been taken to task.
