As we reported on Wednesday, the SEC and Big Ten are on the verge of unilaterally reshaping the format of the College Football Playoff just one year after its expansion to 12 teams. The restructure comes in an effort to guarantee more playoff spots for the SEC and Big Ten.
One potential consequence of this change would be a restructuring of conference championship games, especially for conferences that have multiple automatic qualifiers in the new format, which likely would include the Big 12. One such suggestion is a play-in tournament, similar to what currently exists in college basketball and college baseball.
As future CFP formats are examined, conferences are looking into reinventing championship weekends.
— Pete Nakos (@PeteNakos_) February 21, 2025
Sources confirmed to @On3sports that early discussions for the SEC have included the possibility of 3 and 4 games. We mocked them w/2024 rankings.
Read: https://t.co/iaJWuh9VCJ pic.twitter.com/j4aVuG5kWs
Pete Nakos of On3 offered a glimpse into what that kind of format would've looked like for the SEC this past year, prompting the question of what it would look like for the Big 12 as well. Using the same methodology that Nakos used, this is what the Big 12 championship weekend would have looked like with four games.
With everyone talking about a conference play-in tournament instead of traditional conference title games, this is what a Big 12 setup would've looked like this year
— Devils In Detail (@Devils_Detail) February 21, 2025
Thoughts? pic.twitter.com/7WvhS6fsFO
This type of setup would've made for some really fun games. Firstly, it would have given us a rematch between Arizona State and Kansas State. The Sun Devils knocked off then-No. 16 Kansas State in Manhattan, which finally catapulted them into the Top 25 just in time to beat No. 14 BYU.
There would also be a rematch between Colorado and Baylor, an early contender for Game of the Year that saw the Buffaloes come back from being down 24-7 at one point to pushing the game into overtime and, ultimately, winning. That loss kickstarted a three game losing streak for Baylor, but they finished the regular season on a six game win streak, making this potential rematch all the more exciting.
Another rematch we'd by dying to see is Iowa State squaring off against Texas Tech again. The Cyclones started out red hot, winning their first seven games and climbing to ninth in the polls. Then, the Red Raiders came into Ames having dropped two games in a row and promptly upset the Cyclones by just one point. Getting a second round between these two would've been appointment television.
Finally, TCU and BYU would've offered up a brand new matchup in this hypothetical championship weekend. The Cougars were the last Big 12 team to lose a game, starting off 9-0 before dropping to Kansas and, one week later, Arizona State. They rebounded to beat Houston, but the damage had been done. Meanwhile, the Horned Frogs finished on a heater, winning five of their last six to become bowl eligible. Down the stretch, they looked just as hot as they had been during their run to the National Championship game a few years ago, and seeing them face off against BYU would've added an extra dimension to the race for the playoff.
There are some fair criticisms to this kind of approach, but it's undeniable that a conference play-in tournament like this, with multiple playoff spots on the line, would've been a really entertaining slate of games. Only time will tell if this becomes reality.