The Pac-12 doesn’t have a vote in the College Football Playoff’s revamped governing structure — neither does the ACC or Big 12, for that matter — but the conference has a strong preference for one of the two formats currently under consideration for 2026 and beyond.

“The at-large model is the right one,” commissioner Teresa Gould said this week. “You compete on the field for access.”

In an expanded playoff, the at-large model would guarantee five spots for conference champions and leave 11 for at-large teams.

The other option for the SEC and Big Ten, which control the CFP format for the 2026-31 contract term, is what Gould calls the “allocation model.”

It would assign four automatic bids to the SEC and Big Ten, two to the ACC and Big 12 and one to the highest-ranked team from all oth

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