MWC commissioner falsely blames Texas for failed Playoff expansion

Once again, the Texas football program is in the crosshairs of another conference around the college football landscape. And this is one of the matters that shouldn’t really have anything to do with Texas. But somehow, the Mountain West Conference commissioner is taking aim a the move from Texas and the Oklahoma Sooners to leave the Big 12 for the SEC as a reason for why something major isn’t happening.

A piece from Chris Vannini of The Athletic this week detailing some of the potential reasons for the failure of college football’s administration to arrive at an agreement to expand the College Football Playoff beyond four teams included the MWC commish taking aim at the Longhorns. There were multiple other interesting aspects detailed in this piece from Vannini of The Athletic.

But the Mountain West commish taking aim at Texas and Oklahoma leaving the Big 12 for the SEC definitely hit the nail on the head of how divided this discussion truly is. The fact that college football’s administration couldn’t agree on a way to get this done to expand the Playoff field beyond four teams, and Texas and Oklahoma caught some blame for it, goes to show how dysfunctional this process really was.

The argument that the MWC commish tried to make in order to blame Texas and Oklahoma for this issue to some degree came off the rails pretty fast. Here’s a look at some of the finer points of the point from the MWC commish.

MWC commissioner Craig Thompson has no valid point to blame Texas football and OU for the failed CFP expansion talks

"“It certainly was a factor,” Thompson told Vannini. “It changed the temperament of this particular situation… Was it a breaking point or catalyst? I don’t know. It had an effect.”"

The MWC commish Craig Thompson said that Texas and Oklahoma leaving the Big 12 for the SEC “was certainly a factor” in this process. But he literally makes no relevant point to this discussion as to why the move to expand the Playoff went off the rails.

Any relevant opinion as to why the Playoff isn’t expanding at this point in time blames the college football administration as a whole for not getting this done. And this is where the conversation should be right now.

There is a point to the fact that the College Football Playoff isn’t expanding at least until the same year when it looks like Texas and Oklahoma will officially leave the Big 12 for the SEC. But that has more to do with media contracts and the focus on the financial aspects of the sport than it does any relevant connection to the impact these two programs have in this particular discussion.

Finances will continue to run the conversation in college football, and that is a fact. But you can’t blame these two schools for making the most advantageous move for them financially.

There isn’t much to say beyond this right now concerning any outrage directed at Texas and Oklahoma for leaving the Big 12 for the SEC and any relevant connection with Playoff expansion.

In fact, Texas and Oklahoma should likely both want Playoff expansion to happen as fast as possible since they have an easier path in the Big 12 than they would in the SEC. That is a fact that both programs will want to enjoy as much success as possible before leaving for the SEC.

Texas and Oklahoma are likely to leave the Big 12 for the SEC in 2025. That is when the current media contracts with the Big 12 run out. It then creates the opportunity for a clean exit to the SEC without any financial ties back to the Big 12.