Many BYU and Big 12 fans are clamoring for an expanded 24-team College Football Playoffs. This is largely due to the fact that the Big 12 has effectively been relegated to a one-bid conference in the current 12-team CFP format. ESPN, the AP Poll, and the CFP selection committee so blatantly favor the SEC and "big brands" that the postseason has more of a feel of an invitational than a true playoff.
But if things break a certain way this year, the Big 12 could have multiple teams in the College Football Playoffs.
Three teams, to be exact, among four current Top 20 teams in No. 10 BYU, No. 12 Texas Tech, No. 13 Utah, or No. 19 Oklahoma State.
Here's how three very good teams in the oft overlooked Big 12 can crash the gates of the snobbish College Football Playoffs.
Step 1: BYU goes 11-1 with a win versus Notre Dame and a close loss at Utah
The 3-0 BYU Cougars are currently ranked No. 10 and have been knocking on the door of the CFP in each of the last two seasons. If Kalani Sitake's squad can win their next two games against TCU and Iowa State, the Cougars will be 5-0 and should rise in the rankings, perhaps into the No. 7-9 range.
At that point, an undefeated top-10 BYU team will host Notre Dame, the current No. 3 team in the country.
If the Cougars pull off a victory over Notre Dame, they would leap into the Top 5 and have the signature win the CFP selection committee looks for. BYU would prove they can beat any team in the country, and are deserving of a spot in the CFP.
Lets say BYU remains undefeated at 7-0 before going on the road to Utah, and the Utes are also undefeated and a Top 10 team by then. Even if the Cougs lose that game to the Utes and then subsequently miss the Big 12 championship game, an 11-1 season with a signature win over Notre Dame is CFP worthy.
Step 2 - Utah goes 12-0, beats BYU, and loses in the Big 12 championship
Speaking of the No. 13 Utes, let's say they go undefeated this year with a November win against a Top 5 BYU squad. A 12-0 Utah team with a signature win over BYU (who beat Notre Dame) would be somewhere near a Top 5 team on their own at that point.
Utah's win over BYU would put the 12-0 Utes in the Big 12 conference championship game.
Even if undefeated Utah loses to Texas Tech in the title game, the Utes would be in the CFP.
Step 3 - Texas Tech or Oklahoma State wins the Big 12 title game
Now that 11-1 BYU and 12-0 Utah have staked their claim in the CFP, then either Texas Tech or Oklahoma State would need to beat the Utes in the Big 12 championship game.
The team that wins the conference gets an automatic bid to the College Football Playoffs.
It's that simple.
Joy for the Big 12, disaster for ESPN, the CFP selection committee, and the SEC
The current powers that be -- biased ESPN, the money-hungry CFP selection committee, and the boisterous SEC -- would be in full-on panic mode if this is how the season finished:
How could they deny an 11-1 BYU team that beat Notre Dame with their only loss coming at 12-0 Utah?
How could they deny a 12-0 Utah team that beat a Top 5 BYU squad then fell in a conference championship game?
They literally couldn't deny Texas Tech or Oklahoma State after they received an automatic bid for winning the conference.
If I could waive a magic wand, those are the exact questions the CFP would have to wrestle with. No matter how tightly they twisted themselves into knots trying to justify excluding BYU or Utah, they simply couldn't do it in any sort of credible way. If those three scenarios play out, the Big 12 will be a three-bid league this year.
ESPN and the SEC would go ballistic. If three of the 12 CFP bids go to the Big 12, three go to the SEC, ACC, and Big Ten champs, one goes to Notre Dame, and one goes to a Group of Six school, that means eight of the 12 spots are accountef for with only one SEC team thus far. Of the four remaining spots, two would likely go to the SEC and two to the Big Ten.
Imagine the SEC's outrage of being a three-bid league, equal to the Big 12. It would be delicious.
And while I never want to see BYU lose to Utah, I'd be happy to take one for the conference if a BYU loss meant three Big 12 teams made the CFP.
And then we could genuinely see how deserving -- or not -- the Big 12 is of being a multiple-bid league in the current (and biased) 12-team format. I think BYU, Utah, and either Texas Tech or Oklahoma State would hold their own, just fine.
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