Big 12 commissioner insists his league’s champion should have playoff bye over any G5 champ

FORT WORTH, Tex — Big 12 Commissioner Brett Yormark clearly expressed his displeasure about the College Football Playoff rankings while insisting that his conference’s champion should get a first-round bye over any Group of Five champion.

Arizona State and Iowa State, the 10-2 teams that will play in the Big 12 championship game, are outside the top 12 in the latest CFP rankings and behind three Southeastern Conference teams with three losses: No. 11 Alabama, No. 13 Mississippi and No. 14 South Carolina. The Sun Devils are 15th, and the Cyclones 16th.

“The (selection) committee continues to show time and time again that they are paying attention to logos versus resumes,” Yormark said to open a nearly four-minute statement during a Zoom call to preview the Big 12 title game.

The Big 12 is below No. 10 Boise State (11-1) from the Mountain West Conference. The Broncos, who play No. 20 UNLV in the MWC title game, have a 10-game winning streak since a 37-34 loss on a last-second field goal at top-ranked Oregon, their only P4 opponent.

The five highest-ranked conference champs in the the selection committee’s final top 25 ranking are guaranteed playoff spots, and the top four getting first-round byes. There are now four potential conference champions ahead of the Big 12, which in current projected pairings would be the No. 12 seed and have to play a first-round game on the road.

“Strength of schedule should matter and wins against Power Four opponents should matter — 74% of the Big 12 wins were against Power Four opponents this season,” Yormark said. “Meanwhile, the Group of Five is 11-80. … In no way should a group of Five champion be ranked above our champion.”

Yormark repeated that last line for emphasis, and said strength of schedule was reiterated multiple times before the season as a key metric for the CFP rankings. But he says he hasn’t seen that taken into account as much as it should, then pointed out that Arizona State and Iowa State both were 7-2 in Big 12 play and won the non-conference games they played against P4 opponents.

Right below Arizona State and Iowa State in the CFP rankings is No. 17 Clemson (9-3), which plays eighth-ranked SMU in the Atlantic Coast Conference championship game. The Tigers would get in the playoff as the ACC champion with a win. No. 5 Georgia (10-2) plays No. 2 Texas (11-1) in the SEC title game.

“The committee clearly focuses on the wins and loss column. Going by that principle, no three-loss team from a Power Four conference should get a bye over a two-loss champion from the Big 12,” Yormark said, again forcefully repeating his thought.

Yormark had advocated for the 12-team playoff, and believes it has generated the expected excitement and fan engagement that made November “truly magical.”

There was a four-way tie for first place in the 16-team Big 12 at the end of the regular season. Arizona State and Iowa State advanced in a series of tiebreakers that knocked No. 18 BYU and No. 23 Colorado out of title game contention.

The Big 12 commissioner said that while he disagrees with what has transpired so far, he is hopeful that there will be some adjustments in the final CFP rankings.

“Obviously I challenge what I’ve seen to date, and again I’m going to lean on strength of schedule. I don’t think it’s played out the way it should,” Yormark said. “But I do have trust in the committee that ultimately we’ll land where we’re supposed to land. And, you know, that ultimately will mean we’ll get a bye. … It will come down to the selection committee making that decision, but I’m hopeful it will be the right one.”