Wildcats, Tigers and even Jayhawks in College Football Playoff? It would have happened

In the 23 seasons of a college football bowl system that has ended with a championship game or a final four, neither Kansas State, Missouri or Kansas has been a participant.

But if the 12-team College Football Playoff proposal had been in place during that time, one of those three teams would have been involved nearly half the time — 11 years — and all of them would have made the playoffs at least once.

That’s what happens when college football becomes more inclusive. Even Kansas, which is 21-108 over the past dozen seasons, would have made a playoff field in the past two decades under the proposed system.

“This proposal at its heart was created to provide more participation, for more players and more schools,” CFB executive director Bill Hancock said.

Using the final Bowl Championship Series and CFP standings and applying the proposed rules for selection, Kansas State and Missouri would have made brackets in multiple years, with the Wildcats claiming a top four seed in 2012, the last year it won a Big 12 championship.

In all, K-State would have been in the playoffs eight times, as late as 2014. The best seed would have come in 2012, when the Wildcats would have been the No. 2 team.

Missouri would have made three appearances in the playoffs, in 2007, 2010 and 2013, with its best seed coming in 2007 as a No. 6. That year the Tigers would have played host to Arizona State with the winner taking on No. 3 Virginia Tech.

Kansas also would have been on the 2007 bracket. The Jayhawks would have been the No. 8 seed that year, played a home game against West Virginia with the winner visiting top-ranked Ohio State in the quarterfinals.

The proposed 12-team bracket would work like this: The top six rated conference champions and top six at-large teams as selected by the CFP Selection Committee make up the field. The top four seeds must be conference champions and they receive first-round byes.

That means Notre Dame, as an independent, can’t be a top four seed. But that just evens the playing field for the Fighting Irish, who don’t play in a conference championship game.

Notre Dame was the nation’s top team in 2012. The Irish would have been the fifth seed if a 12-team bracket had been in place.

“I look forward to never hearing again how we played one less game or don’t have a conference championship,” Notre Dame athletic director Jack Swarbrick said.

Seeds 5-8 will host seeds 9-12 with winners advancing to meet the top four seeds in the quarterfinals. The four survivors move to semifinals that are part of the bowl system with the championship game being played at a neutral site.

There would be no limit to the number of teams from one conference to make the field and no conference would automatically qualify.

The 10 Football Bowl Subdivision commissioners plus Swarbrick must agree on a format when they meet next week. If that happens, the proposal goes a board of university presidents and chancellors.

The proposal is expected to be studied over the summer and Hancock said the earliest a decision would be made is September. A new format wouldn’t happen until at least 2023.

The format was the result of a two-year effort by four-member committee that consists of Big 12 commissioner Bob Bowlsby, SEC commissioner Greg Sankey, Mountain West commissioner Craig Thompson and Swarbrick.

One area of possible concern: In an expanded playoff, a team could play as many as 17 games in season. In the current four-team CFP format, a team could play as many as 15 games.