Alabama, Oregon, Florida St., and Ohio St. will compete in the first ever college football playoff this year. Notably absent from the lineup: A team from the powerhouse Big 12.
That's in part because the conference finished the regular season with co-champions — Baylor and TCU — instead of a single champion. The conference can't hold a championship game because, despite its name, it only has 10 teams; the NCAA requires conferences to have at least 12 teams to stage a title game. And though Baylor won a head-to-head between the two teams earlier this year, the Big 12 decided to present both as equals to the playoff selection committee anyway.
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