12-team CFP: Why can’t Irish earn a bye and other questions

Last season, for example, the Pac-12 champion was ranked behind both the American Athletic Conference champ Cincinnati and Sun Belt champ Coastal Carolina.

“This proposal, which treats all FBS conferences equally, has real merit,” AAC Commissioner Mike Aresco said in a statement. “Under this plan, we would have made the Playoff in five of the seven years of the Playoff era. It affirms our P6 positioning.”

But don’t get too excited, G5 fans. Since the CFP was implemented in 2014, using the final selection committee rankings as a guide, 2020 was the only season more than one Group of Five team would have made the proposed 12-team format.

Q: A 12-team playoff could result in teams playing 16 or even 17 games. Is that a concern?

A: The commissioners who put the plan together were quick to point out that most of the teams involved would end up playing the same number of games — 13 or 14 — that top teams already play in a typical season.

But there is no denying that at a time when more attention than ever is on the health and well-being of unpaid athletes, asking even a few teams to play more games than ever will draw criticism.

“To add opportunities to the postseason playoff adds games,” Sankey said. “One can observe, this is too many, that’s not enough — whether that’s opportunities or games. That’s always going to be there.”