Since the inception of the College Football Playoff in 2014, the Pac-12 has only featured two teams in the final four format. They were the Oregon Ducks in 2014, who lost in the National Championship, and the Washington Huskies in 2016, who lost to Alabama in the semifinal.
The Pac-12 was left out again in 2019, prompting Pac-12 commissioner Larry Scott to publicly express his frustration with the four-team Playoff. He said that the Pac-12 has been on the “outside looking in” because their conference champion is not automatically included in the Playoff. Scott said the Pac-12’s relationship with the four-team playoff was “harmful to our positioning, our brand and everything we’ve got.