The perception of "CFP disrespect" stems from a core incompatibility between the Big 12’s model of deep parity and the CFP’s historical preference for highly ranked, singular elite teams. In the 4-team era, the Big 12 champion often carried more losses than its SEC or Big Ten counterparts, resulting in the league being shut out entirely or its champion being significantly undersold. The committee seemed to penalize the Big 12 for cannibalization rather than reward its depth.

This bias directly impacted the two former Pac-12 programs now anchoring the new Big 12. Utah, despite consistently finishing as a Top 15 team under Kyle Whittingham, frequently saw a single early-season loss sink its CFP hopes more severely than a similar defeat would affect a traditional power. Utah's status was rarely elevated to the "blue blood" tier that afforded other schools the benefit of the doubt.

For BYU, the long road as an independent meant a constant uphill battle for national credibility, regardless of a 10-win season. Their non-P5 status made it impossible to build the requisite strength-of-schedule needed for CFP consideration, forcing them to always compete on name recognition alone.

In the expanded 12-team playoff, the disrespect has shifted from who gets in to what seed they receive. The Big 12 champion is now guaranteed a bid, but if that champion finishes 10-2, the lingering media bias could rank them significantly lower than a high-profile 9-3 at-large from the SEC or Big Ten. This results in the champion forfeiting a valuable first-round bye, demonstrating that while the league is now included, its quality is still perceived as a step below its peers by the final ranking body.
 

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