LOS ANGELES -- Bob Bowlsby’s scheduling idea is gaining steam in his old stomping grounds.
The Big 12 commissioner noted at his league’s media days last week that he would be in favor of requiring teams to play at least 10 Power Five opponents each season in order to be under consideration to make the College Football Playoff. The thought process would be that it could help smooth the inequity of some leagues (like the SEC and ACC) playing eight conference games and others playing nine (like the Big 12, Pac-12 and Big Ten).
“If it were left entirely up to me, I wouldn’t make any stipulations about how many games you have to play to decide your conference championship, I would advocate for a policy that says everybody plays ten autonomy game and you can play eight conference games or seven or nine, whatever you want to do,” said Bowlsby, a prior AD at places like Iowa and Stanford. “But everybody has to play ten autonomy games and that way the portfolio looks relatively the same. We all know there is a fair amount of variance from the top to the bottom of even the FBS, even that’s not ideal. But that’s what I would advocate for.”
When that concept was relayed by NBC Sports at his media day on Wednesday, Pac-12 commissioner Larry Scott seemed to show noticeable excitement over the potential for something along those lines even if he doubts there could be something done formally to require it for either schools or the Selection Committee.
“I like that idea. I think that would be a step in the right direction,” Scott said. “I haven’t heard anyone making it a formal requirement because I think no one feels that goes to the commitment that he had when we started the playoff.”
That conversation dovetailed from a much more prominent one about the playoff expanding to eight teams, a hot topic around the league given that a Pac-12 team hasn’t made the final four in the last two seasons. Some in the conference already believe that expansion is a certainty at some point soon but Scott cautioned that the talk isn’t quite as advanced as some would like it to be at an official level.
“We definitely have had a lot of conversation about it nationally and some conversation about it within the conference. It’s very early and there’s really not much concrete,” remarked Scott. “I would expect to have a much more robust conversation about it within our conference after it’s clearer whether there’s a bias for some change from what we have. And if so, what it might look like and on what time frame. We’re not there yet for those questions.
“There hasn’t been enough to sink your teeth into yet.”