Bob Bowlsby expects no immediate changes for Big 12 after Playoff snub

NEW YORK — Not landing one of its co-champions in the College Football Playoff was a shock to the Big 12 Conference, but not so much that it will compel them to immediately seek expansion, commissioner Bob Bowlsby said Monday.

Big 12 officials and conference athletic directors are meeting this week in New York, site of the National Football Foundation's annual awards dinner and the IMG College Athletics Forum, and Sunday's reveal of the inaugural four-team Playoff field gave them something to talk about.

Baylor and TCU were the first and second teams out, meaning the Big 12 is the only Power Five conference without a Playoff entrant. The Big 12 is also the only Power Five conference without 12 or more members, which by NCAA rule precludes it from staging a championship game.

Bowlsby said it appears the lack of a 13th game hurt the Bears' and Horned Frogs' Playoff chances, but that Ohio State's huge final impression, a 59-0 win Saturday against a highly ranked Wisconsin team, probably made the biggest impact on the committee's decision to rank the Buckeyes fourth. "That's just human nature," Bowlsby said after the first day of the conference's meetings ended.

Simple math dictates that at least one Power Five league will be shut out of the Playoff each year as long as it only includes four teams. As such, don't expect the Big 12 to react by radically changing its league composition. "Adding two schools for the purpose of getting to 12 (to have a league championship game) would be among the poorest reasons to do it," Bowlsby said.

West Virginia athletic director Oliver Luck, a member of the Playoff selection committee offered a informal debriefing on the committee's process and decision making Monday. He did not reveal how the committee voted, Bowlsby said.

As for the league leaders' mood in the wake of Sunday's surprise, Bowlsby said, "Depends on who you ask and when."