One insider suggested that it’s not unreasonable to believe that the Big 12 could have two teams in the 2025 playoff.
Shades of the Big 12’s 2022 Performance Hold Hope for 2025
The Big 12 Conference might be poised to shake up the 2025 College Football Playoff by getting two teams into the tournament, according to a key insider citing 2022 as a precedent. During the recent episode of On3’s “The Hard Count with J.D. PicKell,” a fan called in to the show and made their assessment.
“One, I’m fairly confident the ACC will only get Clemson in,” the fan began. “I like Louisville, I like SMU, I even like Miami…but I’m not confident that they’ll get anyone except Louisville in.”
They went on to talk about the level of competition that exists in the Big 12.
PicKell weighed the answer before offering his take.
“Sounds crazy, right?” he began. “J.D., they’re going to cannibalize each other, right? Just like last year. We’ll have a bunch of three-loss teams, four-loss teams, we’ll get to the Big 12 championship, and one team will punch their ticket.”
“It’s not as crazy as it sounds,” PicKell continued. “It’s so weird that it just might happen.”
He cited 2022 as an example. “Like remember, TCU – they run the table, go undefeated in the regular season, then lose to a Will Howard-led Kansas State team in Jerry World, got into the College Football Playoff…but Kansas State won the Big 12.”
PicKell then laid out the blueprint of how it could happen this season.
“One team to run the table, to dominate with probably…no more than one loss on the resume if you’re a team from the Big 12 trying to get an at-large bid,” he stated.
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He went on to detail how the conference programs have retained their quarterback depth, including Arizona State, Baylor, TCU, Iowa State, and Colorado.
The idea has gotten a bit more prevalent, even with conference teams not expected to compete, such as the UCF Golden Knights, who are now coached by former Nebraska head coach Scott Frost.
Time will tell, as the Big 12 is expected to kick off its season slightly earlier this year. Iowa State and Kansas State will face off in the inaugural Aer Lingus College Football Classic in Dublin, Ireland, in August.
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