For a minute, it looked like Ryan Day finally cracked the code. The man walked into the brand-new 12-team College Football Playoff last year, snatched a natty, and planted the Big Ten flag right in the middle of the college football map. And now? He’s standing on the soapbox talking about automatic qualifiers like he’s running for office. But not everyone’s buying what Ryan Day’s selling. Some are straight up calling it what it is—a political stunt with a Buckeye twist. And just like that, the playoff dream? Kinda smelling like drama.
The smoke started when Day pitched that the Big Ten deserves four auto bids in the upcoming expand playoff. Not two. Not three. Four. Why? “We have 18 teams and some of the best programs in the country,” he told ESPN. “It only makes sense.” But hold up—the ACC and Big 12 are not nodding along. They want a 5+11 model: five auto-bids for conference champs, and 11 at-large spots. Simple. Clean. Drama-free. Day’s plan? Feels like it’s doing too much.
Then Day took it up a notch. He said if the Big Ten doesn’t get those four locked-in playoff spots, he might rethink scheduling big games like the one against Texas. “If you don’t have those automatic qualifiers, you’re less likely to play a game like we’re playing this year against Texas,” he said. The shade at the SEC was real. “We play nine conference games in the Big Ten. The SEC doesn’t. So it’s not equal.” Translation: We work harder, so give us more.
But RJ Young wasn’t having it. On his Adapt & Respond With RJ Young podcast, he clapped back with zero hesitation. “That’s politics,” Young fired. “There is no such thing as automatically qualifying for the, NFL regular season—excuse me, the NFL postseason. You win the regular season division title, you get in. Then wildcard? We’ll see. What does your record show? Now, if you’re thinking that he’s saying he needs to get four teams in because the SEC said they need to get four teams in—I’ll let that go. That’s politics, right? Politics is what you do in June. Playing ball is what you do in August, September, all the way through January. We can talk about this—and I think there’s gonna be grandstanding on both sides until we settle on a format.”
He broke it down clean: college football isn’t the NFL. There’s no free lunch. No automatic entries unless you win big. Young wasn’t feeling the 4-4-2-2-1 format either. “I don’t like it at all,” Young continued. “I don’t think you like it either…think we would like to see more home games… think we would like to see more Ohio State–Tennessee. We would like to see that Arizona State–Texas game perhaps be a home game for Texas, right?”All the way up through, I think there’s ways that we can make this a little bit easier and cooler for fans. But turning this thing into a Big Ten–SEC Invitational flies in the face of everything we know.” His point? More ball, less bureaucracy. College football needs grit, not gatekeeping.
So while Ryan Day dreams of power plays and playoff politics, the rest of the country’s looking sideways. Sure, he won the natty. But now he’s sounding like a campaign manager, not a head coach.
SEC Commissioner Greg Sankey keeps it real about the upcoming playoff format
And then Greg Sankey walked in like the voice of reason.
See, while the Big Ten’s out here talking about locking in four teams like it’s a country club membership, Sankey’s on The Dan Patrick Show preaching equality. “I’d give no allocation,” he said flatly. “I’d just make it the 12 best teams.” Cold. Straightforward. Sankey ain’t here to play favorites, even with his own SEC squads. That’s the kind of energy college football needs.
For the record, that 4-4-2-2-1 format? Sankey said he never really liked it. The model was supposed to split playoff spots based on conference power—four for Big Ten, four for SEC, two for ACC and Big 12 each, plus one for the Group of Five champ, and three wild cards. Sounds like a cartel move. But Sankey’s recent tone? More neutral. “We never went back to the essence of decision-making,” he said. That essence being: let the best teams in. Period.
That’s why the 5+11 model is gaining traction. Five conference champs. Eleven at-large teams. No politics. No pity invites. Just ball. Coaches across the country, like Mario Cristobal and Pat Narduzzi, already co-signed the shift. No free passes. You want in? Earn it. So now the vibes are shifting. What was once a backroom deal between the SEC and Big Ten is starting to fall apart. Sankey himself said the old data that supported the four-team playoff back in 2014? It don’t hit the same anymore. Times changed. Teams moved. And the playoff? It’s gotta evolve too.
That puts Ryan Day in a weird spot. He might be the last major coach still pushing for auto-bids like it’s a birthright. But with the SEC pulling out, and the ACC and Big 12 never really in, the political math isn’t mathing anymore.
What’s wild is, Sankey could’ve leaned all the way into that four-spot model and secured his side. But instead, he’s giving the sport room to breathe. “We spent so much time expanding and working through our own little side arguments,” Sankey admitted, sounding more like a reformer than a commissioner. It’s almost like he’s been watching the chaos from the outside, shaking his head.
So what’s next? If the 5+11 model keeps winning hearts, the days of Ryan Day’s playoff politicking might be numbered. The sport is headed for a cleaner, more competitive setup. No handouts. Just heat. Because let’s be real—college football’s already got enough drama. We don’t need another coach tryna be a senator just because he won natty.
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