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- The CFP Has 18 Days To Figure Out Its Future. Nobody Agrees On What That Looks Like.
The CFP Has 18 Days To Figure Out Its Future. Nobody Agrees On What That Looks Like.
Plus: Brett Yormark wants 16 teams, the Rose Bowl fights for January 1, and Coastal Carolina bets on a lateral move.
Mark Haines
January 06, 2026
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IN THIS ISSUE
Good morning.
College football is in the middle of an identity crisis, and everyone's trying to figure out what sticks.
The CFP Management Committee has until January 23 to finalize next season's format. Brett Yormark wants 16 teams. The Rose Bowl wants January 1. And Coastal Carolina wants the next Jamey Chadwell.
None of them are guaranteed to get what they want.
Today we're tracking the playoff's future, the calendar mess that's making commissioners anxious, and a Group of Five hire that tells us a lot about what "progress" actually looks like at the mid-major level. Spoiler: it's not always a splash. Sometimes it's just a bet.
In today's issue:
The CFP format deadline is looming—and the New Year's Six deals still aren't signed
Brett Yormark makes his case for 16 teams and five auto-bids
The Rose Bowl fights to stay relevant in a playoff world that's leaving tradition behind
Deep Dive: Ryan Beard to Coastal Carolina—why the numbers say this is a lateral move, not an upgrade
Let's get into it.
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BEST LINKS
The CFP's future format is still up in the air.
The College Football Playoff Management Committee has a January 23 deadline to finalize next season's structure. That includes extending agreements with the Orange, Rose, Sugar, Fiesta, Cotton, and Peach Bowls—deals Ralph Russo of The Athletic says are expected to get done. Big 12 Commissioner Brett Yormark wants whatever they settle on to stick for a while.
"You need to get some rhythm behind it." [LINK]
Brett Yormark wants 16 teams.
The Big 12 Commissioner reiterated his support for CFP expansion ahead of Thursday's Orange Bowl, pushing for a format that includes five automatic bids for conference champions. He and other power league commissioners may meet multiple times before the January 23 deadline to hash out a deal, though Yormark says he'd be fine staying at 12 if that's where things land.
The bigger issue? The calendar. "It's a little clunky for sure," Yormark admitted. "It needs to probably be modified." [LINK]
The Rose Bowl deserves better than this.
Pasadena Tournament of Roses Executive Director David Eads tells The Athletic the Granddaddy of Them All is prepared to adapt, but he's drawing one line in the sand. "Our preference is January 1. We would like to see that continue." Starting next year, the Big Ten champ won't automatically head to Pasadena, and the conference is already recalibrating expectations. Big Ten COO Kerry Kenny put it bluntly: it's going to feel "a little bit more like a trip to play a football game" than a traditional bowl experience.
Here's our take: Pasadena should host two games - a playoff semifinal and the National Championship Game as its permanent home. The setting is iconic. The stadium is historic. Give the Rose Bowl the respect it's earned. [LINK]
DEEP DIVE
Coastal Carolina Didn't Hire a Splash. They Hired a Bet.
Ryan Beard is not Jamey Chadwell 2.0.
The Chanticleers just replaced Tim Beck with Missouri State's 36-year-old defensive-minded head coach. Beard went 7-6 in his second FBS season, got blown out by USC 73-13, and dropped his final three contests. His résumé reads more "high-upside Group of Five gamble" than "proven winner who resets expectations overnight."
But here's why the hire still makes sense.
Coastal fired a plateau, not a disaster. Beck went 6-6 in each of his last two seasons, bowl-eligible, but a far cry from the 31-6 run that preceded him. The program needed a new identity, and Beard's physical, havoc-creating defenses give them exactly that. He went 4-2 on the road this year and already proved he can manage roster building through an FCS-to-FBS transition, experience that maps directly onto Sun Belt reality in the portal era.
The question isn't whether this hire is defensible. It is.
The question is whether Beard can fix the late-season fades that plagued both his Missouri State tenure and Beck's Coastal teams. That's the gap between "solid process" and "actual upgrade." Coastal is betting on trajectory over track record, and now we find out if that bet pays off.
THAT’S A WRAP
That's all for today.
The coaching carousel is still spinning, and we're just getting started. Friday's issue will have more deep dives on the hires shaping the 2026 season—who's a real upgrade, who's a lateral move, and who's a ticking clock waiting to happen.
See you then.
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