Josh Pate believes Big 12 is the second-best conference in college football this season

Pate noted just how far-fetched the reversal would have sounded recently: "The crazier part of all that is if I were to go back a couple of years and tell you two Big Ten teams are going to be top 10, and it's going to be UCLA and Indiana, that's alternative universe stuff." 

In his view, the pecking order has clearly shifted. 

"They're the No. 2 conference in the country right now; it's SEC and Big 12, and then it's Big Ten No. 3 ... look at Brigham Young at No. 10; you kind of got to start having these conversations; there aren't several weeks left, there's just three weeks of games left." 

Pate even raised the possibility of BYU having a path for an at-large bid.

"I have to start asking myself ... might Brigham Young just be sitting there thinking to themselves, 'I'm okay if Texas Tech wins out ... goes to the conference championship game and playing Utah because I think I can get myself an at-large bid.'"

Joel Klatt: Committee is rewarding resume over brand

Joel Klatt agreed too; he pointed out that the CFP committee is rewarding resume over brand. BYU's win over Notre Dame is aging like fine wine, and it's the type of win that doesn't decay; it's why the Cougars didn't drop out of the top 12 with their loss to Utah. 

"I do think that the Big 12 is fascinating, though, because BYU is holding strong," Joel Klatt said on the "Joel Klatt Show" via Fox Sports. Remember, big wins, strength of schedule. They beat Notre Dame. Notre Dame’s in the top five. So BYU is still sitting there."

A three-bid Big 12 would be a structural shake-up, and it could change how athletic directors schedule nonconference games in the future. The sentiment has been that the SEC and Big Ten have consolidated talent, TV revenue and the overall brand power of college football. 

The Big 12 was picked apart by the SEC, and if they were to take three of the 12 playoff seeds, it would be evidence that depth and parity defeated the brand bias during the selection process. 

It also would alter the revenue gap with the SEC and Big Ten, because playoff participants are paid out per team. 

"You’re looking at a scenario where maybe the Big 12 could sneak three teams into the College Football Playoff. I think that would be pretty cool," Klatt said.