Big 12 Commissioner Bob Bowlsby points to 'relative certainty' of CFP expansion during conference realignment

Texas and Oklahoma are eventually leaving the Big 12 for the SEC, which resulted in the conference formally inviting four schools on Sept. 10.

During Friday’s announcement, Big 12 commissioner Bob Bowlsby admitted he is still of the belief that the College Football Playoff will be expanding its current four-team format. Bowlsby told ESPN’s Adam Rittenberg that the playoff expansion is a “relative certainty.”

Bob Bowlsby: “It’s a relative certainty that we will expand the playoff at some point, whether it’ll be a 12-team playoff or whether it will be an eight-team playoff or whether it’ll come in Year 11 or whether it will come in Year 13, those things are yet to be determined.”

— Adam Rittenberg (@ESPNRittenberg) September 10, 2021

Bowlsby’s remarks are after a domino effect set off by Texas and Oklahoma that will have ramifications across all of college football. One of those domino effects has been the cross-conference alliance of the B1G, Pac-12, and ACC.

The Big 12 has invited independent BYU and AAC schools UCF, Cincinnati, and Houston. Each program brings upside into the Big 12. Cincinnati is currently ranked No. 7. UCF went undefeated in 2017 and has a student body of over 70,000. BYU has a strong national following. Houston represents the nation’s fourth-largest city.

Despite their lack of recent football success, Texas has the nation’s richest athletic program. Oklahoma meanwhile has dominated the Big 12, with six straight conference titles and being the lone conference program to make the College Football Playoff.