College Football Playoff expansion is happening, and it's great for the Big 12

BYU football has never reached the College Football Playoff. Not during the four-team era, when the Cougars were still an independent (or their first season as a member of the Big 12), and not during the 12 -team era.

Whether you believe they were snubbed, disrespected, or conspired against, the simple fact is that BYU football has never made an appearance in the postseason championship tournament. Logically, it makes plenty of sense to justify how a non-conference champion should not be granted the opportunity to challenge for a national championship -- how can you be the best team in the country if you're not the best team in your league?

But the current format supports up to 7 at-large participants, and BYU has never been numbered among them. No Big 12 team has.

But here's some good news for the Big 12 Conference: being a playoff team just became a whole lot easier, as it was announced that the field would expand from 12 teams to 24 starting in the 2027 season.

Like it or not, more games equals more money for college football. Expansion was an inevitability, and has frankly become a necessary one.

The 12-team format was first introduced for increased inclusion. It allowed guaranteed representation from a non-P4 participant, and opened the door for wider conference representation.

It took no time at all for the true reason for expansion to reveal itself: to include more SEC and Big Ten programs at the expense of the greater whole of the sport.

College Football Playoff appearances by conference (since 2024)

SEC: 8
Big Ten: 7
ACC: 3
Big 12: 2
Mountain West: 1
American: 1
Sun Belt: 1

In just 2 years, the SEC has as many CFP participants as the ACC, Big 12, and the entire Group of 6 combined. Even with the increased representation, this league has seen 0 championship appearances since the 12-team format's inception.

The SEC's 8 representatives quadruple the Big 12's total through two seasons. The Big Ten is just one team behind with 7 representatives -- 3.5 times the Big 12.

And it's not for a lack of quality candidates, either. In 2025 alone, the SEC boasted 5 teams in the CFP, including 3-loss Alabama that actually gained positions for losing their title game. The Big 12's runner-up, BYU, had lost to only Texas Tech, the fourth-ranked team in the nation and a first-round bye in the CFP field -- they weren't even the first team out.

They were passed up by teams like Miami, who failed to reach the ACC championship game (which was won by an unranked Duke team). Ole Miss, Texas A&M, and Oklahoma all earned a spot thanks to their SEC jersey patch.

Many blame ESPN's partnership with the SEC for this pattern. ESPN holds media rights for CFP coverage, and the "Worldwide Leader in Sports'" direct affiliation with the league gives it an incentive to include as many SEC programs as possible.

This graphic aired on ESPN after the final week of last year's regular season, where BYU's comparably stronger resume was excluded in side-by-side comparisons because the broadcasters preferred to include two of Alabama, Notre Dame, and Miami, three of the biggest brands in college sports.

Injustices like this won't happen as frequently in the 24-team format -- the Big 12 Conference dominates the middle of the AP Poll this season, and would have sent at least four teams to each of the previous two CFPs had the 24-team format been in effect.

Even today, as the BYU Cougars lead all Big 12 members ranked 8th in the latest AP Top 25, their chances of appearing in the CFP would still be significantly lower than the Notre Dame team that they beat.

It's unfortunate that it had to come to this. In my view, only the very elite should be afforded the chance to compete for a national championship, and I'd argue that even the 12-team format watered down the CFP's prestige.

But 24 teams means more for the Big 12, ACC, and fans of college football. Time will tell what it means for the sport as a whole.

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