Just two (ACC, SEC) of the five power conferences have made every College Football Playoff so far, while the others have been left out at least a couple times apiece — three times for Pac-12, twice each for Big Ten and Big 12.
The Big 12 missing out on two of the first three was a direct driver in partial deregulation of the sport’s conference championship system that allowed leagues to hold a title game without divisions. Now, after the Big Ten missed the last two playoffs, it might be the final piece of the puzzle for complete conference championship deregulation.