While discussing the perceived SEC bias from the College Football Playoff committee earlier this week, Kansas State head coach Chris Klieman discussed an interesting opinion on how the Big 12 can best position itself for the 12-team playoff going forward.
The league is as competitive as you’ll find in the country, but it’s not getting the benefit of the doubt by playing a nine-game conference schedule. When the SEC is playing an eight-game schedule and getting a guaranteed win against an FCS team in mid-November, it’s hard to argue that there isn’t a better way of doing things.
“As a conference, we need to get together and figure some things out,” Klieman said. “Because for a bunch of teams to be (10-2 or 9-3) and us only get one of those teams in the College Football Playoff, then we’ve got to cancel one of these games. I don’t care what people say, we go to eight games in league play. Or we stay with nine but play an FCS team or play a Group of Five team.”
So, should the Big 12 make a change to its formula? The Heartland College Sports staff discusses in this week’s rountable.
Pete Mundo: Yes
Absolutely. If we are going to live in a college football world where the SEC and its media propaganda machine continues to allow the conference to get away with playing eight conference games, along with an FCS game in November, then the Big 12 should follow soon.
I hate it for the conference, because the Big 12 is doing the right thing with nine league games, but the SEC doesn’t appear to be budging on this, and as someone who has been fighting this issue for 10 years, at some point you have to throw your hands up and say “enough”. I think the Big 12 is basically there right now.
Bryan Clinton: Yes
When the CFP committee was forced to split hairs to put four teams in the playoff, the strength of schedule was a common way to give one team the nod over another. However, as the 12-team playoff picture gets closer and closer, it’s beginning to look like win totals could end up being more valuable than SOS. Teams like Boise State, Indiana, and Penn State are virtual locks to make the field, and the Nittany Lions have the most challenging schedule of that trio with the No. 32 ranked schedule. However, all of them enter the final week of the season with a 10-1 record.
If the Big 12 played an eight-game schedule and teams like Arizona State, BYU, and Iowa State were 10-1 this week, how would the committee look at them? I’d wager that all three of them would be ranked higher than No. 16 if they’d had another win, regardless of their strength of schedule. Sure, the argument is there that the SEC should be the one to conform, but there’s no arguing that 10-1 looks decidedly better than 9-2 when comparing resumes.
Joe Tillery: Yes
Look, I get the idea of making your league the most competitive and exciting conference in America. In no way am I advocating to change that. That being said, the downside of conference chaos is a true lack of a major playoff contender.
If the league were to shrink conference play down, that would make for so many more teams sitting at the table for the College Football Playoff. Simply put, the SEC will not change their product. The Big 12 needs to do something to get even, or at least on the same playing field in terms of scheduling an FCS team in Week 11 or cut back on the opportunity for “bad losses” in the path to the CFP.
Matthew Postins: Yes
I’ve gone back and forth since Chris Klieman made his comments. And, if you recall, Klieman brought this up earlier this year, saying the league should either play eight or 10 league games. The Big 12 DEFINITELY shouldn’t play ten at this point. I’m leaning toward eight. The CFP committee keeps sending mixed signals about several data points.
I also think the SEC gets some benefit of the doubt because of the league’s overall success. However, adding a fourth non-conference game that teams can control gives them a chance to add another victory. It’s ironic. In years past, the committee has given the Big 12 grief about the strength of schedule in non-conference. So many schools have beefed up. Now, it doesn’t seem they’re getting much credit for that. Plus, the Big Ten is playing nine league games, and you could argue that they’re being punished less than the Big 12 right now (the Big Ten also has an undefeated team). I’d slide back to eight and see how that goes. Having more 10-win teams in the mix at this time of the year would probably help the league’s overall chances of more teams in the playoffs.
Derek Duke: No Way
Unless everyone else in college football does what the SEC does by playing eight conference games, then the Big 12 should stay where they are at with nine. I think one could argue that the Big 12 should play ten conference games instead of nine. Instead of focusing on conference games, I think the Big 12 should be focused more on how they schedule the non-conference. Nobody should be playing more than one FCS school, and I wouldn’t mind seeing those go away either.
Maybe the Big 12 should make a rule that you must play at least one power opponent and at least one group of five schools. That should help build some resumes. On the flip side, I could also see where the conference would be focused more on total wins, and scheduling three cupcakes could help overall records when it comes to the playoffs. Either way, the non-conference is the issue here, not conference play.
