Would 12-team College Football Playoff benefit Wyoming?
LARAMIE -- With Texas and Oklahoma bolting to the Southeastern Conference and rumors swirling about additional FBS programs deserting or joining other leagues, maybe you forgot that there is currently a 12-team playoff format under consideration.
Could that be helpful for Wyoming?
Craig Bohl thinks so.
"Yeah, I think that's great," Wyoming's head coach said at the annual Mountain West Media Days in Las Vegas. "I feel like college football was intended to be more inclusive than exclusive. I think it's good for our game."
Does 12 teams simply mean more Power-5 teams getting a crack at a national title?
Not necessarily.
The proposal guarantees spots to the six highest-ranked conference champions. The at-large bids will go to the next six who have the highest ranking in the final polls.
An 11-team panel made up of 10 league commissioners, including the head of the Mountain West Craig Thompson, and Notre Dame Athletics Director, Jack Swarbrick, pushed ahead with the idea of expanding the College Football Playoff from four teams to a dozen.
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In the proposal, the four highest-ranked teams would receive a bye in the opening round, which could start as early as two weeks after the conference championship games. Four play-in games would take place on the campuses of the highest ranked teams left in the bracket.
Media rights could reach could reach up to $1 billion, according to CBSsports.com
Bohl said now is the time to expand. He added the NFL is the most viewed sport in the country. Right below that, college football.
"We've got to continue to grow that brand," he said.
There's another reason this could be impactful for a school like Wyoming. Bohl used one word -- access.
"I know this, we got a damn good league and it's competitive," he said. "If one of our teams gets in that thing, they'll make a hell of a run at it. To have access to it is going to be great."
Remember the BCS busters?
Utah, then a member of the Mountain West, crashed the party in 2006, knocking off Pittsburgh 35-7 in the Fiesta Bowl. Two years later it was then-Western Athletic Conference member, Boise State, pulling off the 43-42 overtime stunner over Oklahoma in that same bowl game in the desert.
In 2008, Hawaii represented the WAC in the Sugar Bowl against Georgia. The following year it was the Utes once again shocking the college football world with a 31-17 win over Alabama. Boise State and then-MWC member, TCU, met in the Fiesta Bowl in 2010. The Horned Frogs made a trip to the Rose Bowl the following January and beat Wisconsin, 21-19.
It can be done.
"It's going to change our profile nationally," Bohl said. "... I applaud commissioner Thompson."