With the advent of the College Football Playoff committee, and their emphasis for all programs to improve their strength of schedule such that, say, Wisconsin can’t skate by hosting Eastern Illinois, UMass, and Ball State every year and expect to get into the playoff, Power Five programs are becoming smarter with their scheduling.
It’s one of the reasons why neither Baylor nor TCU made the top four last season. Without a conference championship game in the Big 12, an asinine decision we’ve berated them for a number of times in this space, the Bears and Horned Frogs were jumped by the Ohio State Buckeyes at the end of the season.