With the penultimate College Football Playoff rankings set to drop Tuesday night and Selection Sunday closing in, the messaging from across the Big 12 grows increasingly unified. Commissioner Brett Yormark argued the league deserves two bids in this year’s 12-team playoff — and the outcome of Saturday’s Big 12 title game should not change that.
No. 5 Texas Tech enters championship week sitting firmly inside the projected field, but No. 11 BYU remains outside the at-large cut line. If the bracket were released today, the Cougars would miss the playoff despite an 11-1 record and their only loss coming to the Red Raiders. BYU effectively needs to win Saturday to secure its bid.
Yormark further argued a clear blind-résumé gap between BYU and several teams ahead of in the rankings, including Notre Dame.
“Let’s not look at logos. Let’s look at résumés,” Yormark said. “Any blind résumé comparison has BYU in the top 10. No question about it. In comparison with Notre Dame as an example, BYU has a better overall record, better strength of record and better strength of schedule. I am confident that the CFP will get it right for BYU.”
College Football Playoff résumé comparison
|
Record |
Strength of Schedule |
Strength of Record |
|
| No. 9 Notre Dame
|
10-2 |
42 |
13 |
 No. 11 BYU |
11-1 |
35 |
6 |
 No. 12 Miami |
10-2 |
44 |
14 |
 No. 16 Texas |
9-3 |
8 |
12 |
The numbers above are from ESPN’s Football Power Index.
The argument represents a significant moment for the Big 12, particularly after what happened a year ago. In the first season of the 12-team format, the conference placed just one team in the playoff: Arizona State, which entered as the automatic qualifier before taking Texas to overtime in the CFP quarterfinal at the Peach Bowl. It became one of the clearest pieces of evidence that the top teams in the conference can compete, nationally — and that the Big 12’s best shouldn’t automatically be dismissed relative to the SEC or Big Ten.
“I think we’re the deepest conference in America. I’ve always said we got to earn it on the field. I don’t want any gimmies,” Yormark said. “I think we did that this year, and I anticipate doing that moving forward.”
Texas Tech coach Joey McGuire echoed that sentiment from a coaching perspective, noting that discussions around playoff contenders often drift toward helmet logos rather than comparative achievement.
“I’ve even sent texts to different reporters or different media people that I know of like, you’ve got this logo, this logo, this logo and they’re leaving out whether it’s us or BYU,” McGuire said. “But when you look at the numbers, we have better numbers than teams that they’re putting up there.”
The Big 12’s push comes as other coaches around the country also lobby for their programs. Clark Lea made his plea for Vanderbilt. Mario Cristobal publicly advocated for Miami, while Steve Sarkisian has done the same for Texas — both outside the projected field. As conference titles and résumés collide during the most consequential week of the season, political positioning has become as important as on-field performance.
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