The College Football Playoff could soon undergo drastic changes again, but it might be for the best of the Big 12.
Over the past few years, the College Football Playoff has become unrecognizable from its original version. While the debut four-team format from 2014 was still in place through the 2023 season, 2024 marked the beginning of a new era.
In this new era of the College Football Playoff, it seems like a 10-year stretch with one format might never happen again. While the 12-team playoff was a clear success last season, there are still some tweaks that need to be made to perfect the format.
While the 12-team field was criticized by some, it was evident that the format ensured that any team truly deserving of making it in was in the field. The obvious change would be to perhaps change how automatic byes or on-campus games function. Instead, the world of college football is embracing maximum chaos and looking to expand the field yet again.
According to a report from Ross Dellenger of Yahoo Sports, the latest expectation is for a 16-team playoff field with automatic bids ranging by conference. The SEC and Big Ten would get four automatic bids each, the ACC and Big 12 would each get two, the highest-ranked non-power conference champion would get a spot, followed by three at-large bids.
As things currently stand, the Big 12 is seen as a lesser league than the SEC and Big Ten and on the same level as the ACC. Still considered a power conference, the Big 12 simply isn’t seen as the best of the best.
That designation makes sense after losing Oklahoma and Texas, the conference’s most prestigious schools, in 2023. Throughout the four-team playoff era, the Sooners made up most of the league’s playoff appearances, with TCU and Texas earning one apiece in the final two seasons of the format.
Although the Big 12 wants to be seen as one of the best, it might be the wise route to accept two automatic bids and try to prove the conference’s worth in the postseason. Considering the conference only managed one team in the 12-team playoff last season, the risk of not having automatic bids might ultimately outweigh the rewards for the Big 12.
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