Hill: Mountain West-Pac 12 title game would boost leagues’ CFP chances

There isn’t going to be a storybook ending to the ongoing war between the Mountain West and Pac-12.

There will be no beer summit where commissioners Gloria Nevarez and Teresa Gould meet to toast an amicable resolution to a bitter standoff that has extended well beyond a year and is buried in legislative action.

Any hope of coming together to work for the greater good of both leagues appears to be fantasy at this point.

But if the chaotic selection processes for league championships and even the CFP committee has taught us anything, it’s that every league but the SEC and Big Ten needs to find any edge it can to have a chance to earn those valuable playoff shares.

The Mountain West and Pac-12 should find a way to work together on one key initiative even if isolationism remains the ruling principle: They should have their football champions square off before the CFP committee meets to set the playoff teams each year.

It really is the best path forward even if the logistics are incredibly challenging.

Make the best of it

This space has been consistent that a merger would have been the optimal resolution to this standoff. But that isn’t going to happen.

So instead of forming the dominant western-based league that could have made a mark on the national stage, we are left with two depleted conferences that will constantly compete for the little respect and attention available to non-Power Four leagues west of the Rockies.

Both leagues will occasionally have a team in consideration for a playoff berth going forward, at least under the current format, but it won’t be an annual occurrence.

One way to increase the chances of being included would be to boost the résumé and profile of at least one of the candidates each year.

The winner of the conference showdown each year would have a far greater case for inclusion in the playoff bracket than under the current system.

The committee would be presented with a Group of Six team that not only won its own league, but got through another conference champion in what would be a big spotlight game.

In many cases, it would be tough to leave out such a team under the current selection criteria.

Not an easy process

The Pac-12 media rights deal already includes a championship game and the soon-to-be-completed Mountain West deal will as well. So those games would still have to be played and likely moved up a week and that would cause scheduling problems.

Unless, of course, a potentially shared media rights partner sees greater value in the newly constructed game. Which they would.

There is also the real possibility that the CFP makes drastic changes to the system, perhaps as soon as January.

That could mean even less of a chance for Group of Six teams making the playoffs anyway, which could make this entire plan moot.

Or it could give Group of Six teams even more of a chance and make the playoff even more inclusive with less power for the SEC and Big Ten.

LOL. I’m kidding. Let’s not be ridiculous here.

But the goal of every conference outside the Power Four, at least when it comes to football, should be to find a pathway into the big money that is available in the playoff.

Part of a potential interleague championship game would be each league making sure the teams that advanced were best-positioned to earn a bid with a win.

The Mountain West tiebreaker essentially tried to do that this year. The ACC’s? Not so much.

Let that be a lesson.

Is this idea going to happen?

Probably not.

That doesn’t mean the two leagues should stop trying to find the absolute best way to be included in the system.

A more likely scenario would involve matching the conference champions in a bowl game. Sure, that’s a fun idea. But with far less stakes.

There is also the early stages of an idea about simply creating a Group of Six playoff.

That’s interesting on some levels. If there is a media partner that believes there is enough money in that to make it worthwhile, then it will certainly be worth exploring especially when the Power Four inevitably consolidates more power and restricts the little guy’s access to the playoffs.

The bottom line: Everything should be on the table. The system is so far from perfect and is going to change often.

All leagues such as the Mountain West and Pac-12 can do is to find whatever ways they can to take advantage of whatever way the wind is currently blowing.

Contact Adam Hill at ahill@reviewjournal.com. Follow @AdamHillLVRJ on X.