What 24 Team Playoff Would Mean for the Big 12, OSU

On Friday, Big 12 football coaches voted unanimously in favor of a 24-team playoff.

Whether college football gets there or if that kind of expansion is even good for the sport remains heavily debated.

It might be surprising, but that kind of expansion makes a lot of sense for the conference (more on Oklahoma State specifically in a bit).

Here’s what a 24-team playoff would have looked like the last two seasons broken down by conference:
SEC — 14 (9 top 12 seeds)
Big Ten — 11 (7)
Big 12 — 9 (3)
ACC — 7 (2)
G6 — 5 (1)
Notre Dame — 2 (2)

From an overall representation standpoint, the Big 12 is somewhat surprisingly close to the Big Ten given the gap in resources. That gap makes itself more widely known when looking at which teams would receive a top 12 seed, and in theory be favored to advance to round two in most formats.

Importantly for the conference, the Big 12 holds a slight edge on the ACC in both overall teams and in top seeds. So the current lineup can currently claim third place on the shrinking mountain top of power conference football.

So that could explain why the coaches voted the way they did, but would this move actually help Oklahoma State more than other schools?

That depends largely on if you think Eric Morris can get the Pokes back on track to the level they were playing at before things derailed in 2024.

It’s true that playoff expansion will help almost every team make the playoffs more, but history says few programs benefit like OSU.

Sporting News mapped out how many playoff appearances every team would have if the 24-team playoff started when the four-team format began back in 2014. From there we can calculate that 10 teams would have cracked the field an additional four-plus times, including Oklahoma State.

Note: All the numbers below pretend that the 12-team format began in 2014. For example, we know Oklahoma State didn’t go to the playoffs when they finished ninth in 2021, but since the chart is trying to show who benefits more from 24 compared to the current system, it pretends OSU has one CFP appearance.

The Cowboys also finished inside the top 19 of the BCS rankings, but outside the top 12 during four of the last six years of that system (2008-13), so it seems safe to say the Pokes would have likely made the field each of those seasons as well as 2011 when they finished third.

Although the format of a 24-team playoff remains undecided, the Big Ten started this conversation and is proposing a model which grants the top eight seeds a bye while seeds 9-16 would host the first round. Then the top eight would host the second round.

While this look in the rearview mirror doesn’t mean anything to Oklahoma State in 2026, it does potentially highlight what Morris could build in Stillwater. In this alternate universe the Cowboys would have hosted seven times between 2008 and 2023 with the second-round pairing in 2011 being especially sweet for OSU fans.

Here’s a look at what Oklahoma State’s 11 playoff games might have looked like dating back to 2008 starting with the most recent.

2023
No. 20 Oklahoma State (9-4) at No. 13 LSU (9-3)
Winner gets: No. 4 Alabama (12-1)

2021
No. 9 Oklahoma State (11-2) hosting No. 24 San Diego State (11-2)
Winner gets: No. 8 Ole Miss (10-2)

2020
No. 21 Oklahoma State (7-3) at No. 12 Coastal Carolina (11-0)
Winner gets: No. 5 Texas A&M (8-1)

2016
No. 12 Oklahoma State (9-3) hosting No. 21 Tennessee (8-4)
Winner gets: No. 5 Penn State (11-2)

2015
No. 16 Oklahoma State (10-2) hosting No. 18 Houston (12-1) [avoids rematch with No. 17 Baylor]
Winner gets: No. 1 Clemson (13-0)

2013
No. 13 Oklahoma State (10-2) hosting No. 20 Fresno State (11-1)
Winner gets: No. 4 Michigan State (12-1)

2011
Second round: No. 3 Oklahoma State (11-1) hosting winner of
No. 14 Oklahoma (9-3) vs No. 19 Houston (12-1)

2010
No. 14 Oklahoma State (10-2) hosting No. 19 Utah (10-2)
Winner gets: No. 3 TCU (12-0)

2009
No. 19 Oklahoma State (9-3) at No. 14 BYU (10-2)
Winner gets: No. 3 Cincinnati (12-0)

2008
No. 13 Oklahoma State (9-3) hosting No. 20 Pittsburgh (9-3)
Winner gets: No. 4 Alabama (12-1)