Playoff of Four Great for CFB but Probably Bad for Big 12

Cards on the table, I want the College Football Playoff to move to eight teams. I think that’s the number that allows for maximum drama but minimum (legitimate) complaining. It would allow for a bit of wriggle room for the Oklahoma States and TCUs of the world while giving some much-needed latitude to the CFB Playoff Committee in its choices.

It would expand the preposterous revenue that is already being generated.

However, I do understand why people are hesitant to go to eight. The CFB Playoff has been a rip-roaring success to this point. Why gamble with what you know works, the thinking goes. And there is some truth to that sentiment. The Playoff has been awesome. It has (mostly) made the regular season more intense and fun, and it has delivered some absolute classics for the true national championship.

But what is best for college football as a whole isn’t always great for the much-maligned Big 12 Conference. I want the Big 12 to rock. Heck, if the conference was given the option to add Texas A&M, Colorado, Missouri and Nebraska back in, I’d do it in a heartbeat. I don’t want OSU to move on to the Pac-22 or SEC or whatever.

But I also want college football to keep growing and to become more popular than the NFL. As a fan and as someone with a financial interest.

And so I’m torn.

“It’s a high-stakes game of musical chairs,” Big 12 commissioner Bob Bowlsby said recently. “There are at least five suitors and only four seats. We’re three years into this, and we’ve only been in this once and we know we need to be in more.”

The reality here is that the Big 12 is going to be at a disadvantage for the short-term future as long as there are other humans picking the teams for the playoff. It just is. It doesn’t have enough big names or great teams for me to think otherwise.

Jake Trotter wrote a terrific piece last week about the future of the conference — for once not in peril during the summer! — and in it he talked about the Big 12 Championship game that will debut this year (and 100 percent without a doubt feature a 12-0 Oklahoma State team getting trounced by OU).

The league added a championship game that will make its debut this December, and provide each member with an additional $2 million-$3 million in annual revenue. The title game will also give the Big 12 a bigger presence on championship weekend, as well as a 13th game, which the league believes will finally put it on equal footing with the other conferences in the eyes of College Football Playoff selection committee. [ESPN]

Maybe, but it seems like the Big 12’s issues run deeper than just play another game.

I know we talk a lot about the Big 12 Championship game and the CFB Playoff here at PFB, but the reality here is that the future of the Big 12 (and thus where Oklahoma State plays sports) is at least partially tied to those things. In other words, this stuff is a big deal financially and politically.

So I guess in the end I land on accepting and enjoying the CFB Playoff because I think generally what is best for the industry is best for the Big 12. And what is the alternative? The Big 12 wasn’t exactly lighting up the national landscape with title winners in the olden days of the BCS, either. The four-team playoff is here to stay which might be bad for the Big 12 in the short term and could even contribute to it splitting up eventually. It’s been awesome for the sport, though, and with less than 60 days to go until the regular season, I’m more excited about it than ever.

… but I still want it to be eight teams.