By Jeffrey Cohen | Sports Editor
The Big 12 announced Monday that it will no longer hold its football conference championship game after 2026, with the College Football Playoff expanding from 12 teams to 24 starting next year.
The Big 12 joins the wave of all Power Four conferences nixing their championship games following the announcement that the CFP and ESPN reached a 5-year, $1.7 billion media rights deal to double the playoff field.
Big 12 commissioner Brett Yormark believes the expanded CFP will offer a better chance for Big 12 teams to compete for a national championship.
“The Big 12 has consistently advocated for greater access to the College Football Playoff, and a 24-team format delivers more opportunities for programs to compete for a national championship,” Yormark said in a statement. “The 24-team format will also provide meaningful postseason experiences for universities, teams, student-athletes and fans.”
The increased size of the postseason tournament could play in Baylor’s favor, nearly missing three times since its first season in 2014.
Baylor had opportunities to make the CFP in its two appearances in the conference championship game since its return in 2016. The Bears lost to Oklahoma 30-23 in overtime in 2019 to end their hopes of making the CFP for the first time. They won the second time in 2021, defeating Oklahoma State 21-16, thwarting the Cowboys’ shot at making the field.
Baylor also found itself on the verge of the CFP in its inaugural year, finishing one spot out of the four-team playoff in 2014.
Baylor enters its most difficult stretch of the season, facing No. 9 BYU, No. 15 Texas Tech and No. 17 Houston to close out the regular season. The Bears still have a path to the Big 12 championship game, needing to win out and receive help from No. 3 Utah to reach Arlington.
The Bears’ chances to make the current 12-team CFP are slim but not gone. They hold a 1.7% chance to enter the playoff according to ESPN’s College Football Power Index.
Baylor begins the late-season gauntlet against BYU at 2:30 p.m. Saturday at LaVell Edwards Stadium in Provo, Utah.
