How Pac-2 moves forward after leverage play as College Football Playoff updates 12-team expansion model

College Football Playoff leaders agreed to a 5+7 model for the expanded 12-team playoff format on Tuesday, signaling a major change in the postseason landscape with the 2024 season just over six months away. The move grants guaranteed access to college football’s five highest-ranked conference champions with seven spots reserved as “at-large” spots for the next highest-ranked teams. 

Ushering in this new era is the effective dissolution of the Pac-12, which saw its status as a power conference crumble when 10 teams left during the latest wave of conference realignment. Under the previous 6+6 model, which left an extra spot for conference champions to automatically qualify, the Pac-12 likely would have had a playoff representative every year. 

Now, Oregon State and Washington State — who occupy a nominal spot as the “Pac-2” — are once again left on the outside looking in. Those five spots in the 5+7 model will be filled by the SEC, Big Ten, Big 12, ACC and the highest-ranking non-power conference champion. 

Whatever the case, the door isn’t closed for the Pac-12, no matter what it may look like moving forward. The path did, however, just get significantly more difficult. Here’s what Tuesday’s change means for the “Pac-2,” and how they can keep their hopes alive moving forward. 

Fighting for a schedule

Oregon State and Washington State did an admirable job of securing their immediate future following the Pac-12’s implosion. The two schools entered into a scheduling agreement with the Mountain West to fill out their respective 12-game slate. In this alliance, each Mountain West team will play seven conference games and then one contest against either Oregon State or Washington State. In exchange, the two Pac-12 holdovers are giving…

Source link : https://www.cbssports.com/college-football/news/how-pac-2-moves-forward-after-leverage-play-as-college-football-playoff-updates-12-team-expansion-model/

Author : Will Backus

Publish date : 2024-02-20 20:04:04

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