The Pac-12 now has enough FBS football members to qualify as a potential playoff league, but at what level?
Oregon State and Washington State remain from the ashes of what was once a viable Power Conference. But there's nothing powerful about this iteration of the Pac-12.
So is the Pac-12 still a "Power" conference, or do we now officially have a "Group of Six" with a different set of rules when it comes to playoff berths?
The Pac-12 should not be eligible for College Football Playoff auto-bid
Recent addition Texas State, and less recent additions Colorado State, San Diego State, Boise State, Utah State, Fresno State, Washington State, and Oregon State do not make up a conference that'd be considered for an auto-bid to a 12-team College Football Playoff, or even a 14-team field, if it had any other name.
In 2025, the five highest-ranked conference champions, and top seven highest-ranked non-conference champions, receive auto bids.
If the Pac-12 is naturally part of that five, sure. But let's not do anything unnatural to honor a brand name that wasn't built on the backs of the current members.
USC, Colorado, and Washington built the Pac-10/12's reputation. These new schools don't have the facilities to compete with the conferences that those schools went to.
Maybe the Big 12. But they're behind in the CFP arms race themselves.
Everyone besides the Big Ten and SEC is. Credit to the Big 12 and ACC in 2024, though. The former sent a legitimate entry to the CFP with Arizona State and the latter had two teams worthy of a spot. Many scoffed at the idea that SMU and Clemson were any less deserving of making it than three-loss teams like Alabama and South Carolina.
A two-loss team from this Pac-12 isn't any more convincing than one from the AAC. Which is to say, there's not much convincing that could be done in that scenario.
The Pac-12 being back is victory enough for the remaining fans of the brand. There weren't exactly a ton when it was a legitimate Power 5 conference due to George Kliavkoff's mismanagement of the television deal.
Fans of the new Pac-12's programs don't need to overstep and ask for a CFP auto-bid they don't deserve.