The Aporia · New-look Pac-12 looking to flex its way into CFP with unique schedule at end of regular season

New-look Pac-12 looking to flex its way into CFP with unique schedule at end of regular season

Read the original at Toronto Star ↗

Cite

APA MLA Chicago

Marshall, J. (2026, August 27). New-look Pac-12 looking to flex its way into CFP with unique schedule at end of regular season. Toronto Star. https://www.thestar.com/sports/football/new-look-pac-12-looking-to-flex-its-way-into-cfp-with-unique-schedule-at-end-of-regular-season/article_4973c7d9-f8c2-52db-85f4-984f00d1de9e.html

Dated when The Aporia collected the article, usually within hours of publication. Check the original for its exact date and byline.

Quick Summary

The Pac-12 conference has created a unique "flex" schedule for its final week of regular season games, aiming to improve its chances of getting teams into the College Football Playoff. The schedule allows the conference to manipulate matchups for bowl access and CFP consideration. According to Pac-12 Commissioner Teresa Gould, this move was a deliberate attempt to strengthen the conference's postseason prospects. Four teams - Colorado State, Utah State, Fresno State, and Washington State - will host these non-conference games, which won't count in league standings.

Written locally by qwen2.5:14b on 2026-08-27, using this article's own text rather than the other coverage of the same event (that is the story summary below).

AI analysis runs on qwen2.5:14b, locally

Story summary

The Pacific-12 (Pac-12) conference, which was forced to rebuild itself after losing several teams, is trying to increase its chances of getting a team into the College Football Playoff (CFP). The conference has introduced a new "flex" schedule for the final week of the regular season, allowing it to manipulate the schedule to benefit its teams. This could lead to high-profile rematches and potentially improve bowl access or CFP access. Pac-12 Commissioner Teresa Gould calls the idea "genius", but it's an ambitious move in a highly competitive landscape. The conference has added six new football teams, including Colorado State and Utah State, as well as Gonzaga for basketball, to revamp itself after the mass exodus of previous members. With 22 total teams now part of the Pac-12, the conference is hoping this innovative schedule will help it stand out in the CFP selection process. The Pac-12 championship game will be held on December 4 at the home stadium of the highest-seeded team.

Written for “Pac-12 Conference Schedule Changes” on 2026-10-16, grounded in this article and the 0 other(s) covering the same event.

Compared with similar articles

This article reads unscored and hedges 0% of its claims. Each row says how that neighbour differs.

Who's in? Who wins? AP's way too early prediction for the 2026 College Football Playoff different event · 90%

Toronto Star

⚖️ Leans left 🔴 16% hedged 5 of 31 📰 publisher trust 63

“Article A discusses the College Football Playoff in general terms, while Article B specifically mentions the Pac-12's unique schedule to enhance their postseason chances”

How this article was measured signals, leaning charts, publisher record, byline, topics and claims

Signals How these are calculated →

Claims extracted

sentences that state something as happening or true

Uncertain

0 of 22 hedged ("reportedly", "may", "according to")

Leaning

withheld

no quote in the article backed the model's score

Publisher signals

63/100

Toronto Star's corrections and hedging, across everything collected from it. Not a measure of accuracy.

Outlets on this story

Sports

Same framing elsewhere

articles that frame the event the way this one does

Analyzed 2026-08-27 · how these are computed

How this is being covered How these are calculated →

Article leaning vs. publisher reliability

Source leaning vs. consistency

Publisher

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Who wrote this

John Marshall

13 article(s) here · 1 carrying a prediction

🔮 Avalanche coach Jared Bednar said Monday the Avalanche have granted Hakstol permission to speak with Arizona State about the position and a decision could come later this week.

2026-10-12 · assertive framing · Arizona State in talks with Colorado Avalanche assistant Dave Hakstol about hockey coach job

🔮 Cincinnati also failed on fourth-and-goal from the 2 in the second quarter when Kellen Davis couldn’t come down with a high throw at the edge of the end zone.

2026-10-04 · assertive framing · Fifita accounts for 3 TDs, shorthanded Arizona shuts down Cincinnati for 34-7 win

🔮 Powers will not join the team for its season opener at Lindenwood on Friday in the wake of the Aug. 20 collapse of defenseman Matthew Mayich.

2026-09-30 · assertive framing · ASU hockey coach on leave after player collapsed during outdoor workout

🔮 John and Christina Mayich, parents of 21-year-old Matthew Mayich, released a statement through the family attorney on Tuesday, concurring with a letter sent by seven Arizona State hockey players to university president Michael Crow on Monday.

2026-09-29 · assertive framing · Parents of Arizona State hockey player who collapses call for coaches to be placed on leave

🔮 The letter sent to President Michael Crow through an attorney on Monday also contradicted some of the facts stated in Arizona State’s initial probe into the collapse of Matthew Mayich during an outdoor workout on Aug. 20.

2026-09-28 · assertive framing · Arizona State hockey players send letter to school president about teammate's collapse

🔮 Matthew Mayich collapsed during an Aug. 20 workout and remains hospitalized with what family attorney Rob Carey said was exertional heat stroke that reduced flow of oxygen to his brain.

2026-09-22 · assertive framing · Arizona State report shows training plan not submitted before hockey player's collapse

🔮 That would seemingly set up a season of parity, but not every winning team (so far) is created equal.

2026-09-22 · assertive framing · No. 11 Texas Tech playing with a different vibe in second straight 3-0 start

🔮 That past built what could be a better future in Utah.

2026-09-18 · assertive framing · Utah Mammoth eye deeper postseason run following franchise's first playoff berth

🔮 The reincarnated Pac-12 will try to flex its way into the College Football Playoff.

2026-08-27 · assertive framing · New-look Pac-12 looking to flex its way into CFP with unique schedule at end of regular season

🔮 Fifita threw for 3,228 yards and a school-record 29 TDs in his first season with Doege calling the shots and will feel even more comfortable in Arizona’s offense.

2026-08-21 · assertive framing · Arizona trending up in third season under Brennan, has QB Noah Fifita back to lead offense

Also by John Marshall

Arizona State in talks with Colorado Avalanche assistant Dave Hakstol about hockey coach job

2026-10-12 · Toronto Star

Cardae Mack runs for 154 yards and 2 touchdowns, Arizona State grinds out 30-12- win over Hawaii

2026-10-11 · Toronto Star

Fifita accounts for 3 TDs, shorthanded Arizona shuts down Cincinnati for 34-7 win

2026-10-04 · Toronto Star

ASU hockey coach on leave after player collapsed during outdoor workout

2026-09-30 · The Independent

Nothing else under this byline is closely related to this article, so these are simply their most recent.

All 13 articles by John Marshall →

Topics

CFP Colorado State Oregon State Power Five Washington State

Subjects

CFP ORG · 8× Colorado State ORG · 2× Fresno State ORG · 2× Oregon State ORG · 2× Power Five ORG · 2× Utah State ORG · 2× Washington State GPE · 2× Teresa Gould PERSON · 1× The Pac-12 was forced ORG · 1× the Pac-12 will ORG · 1×

Narrative

With its flex schedule, the conference will be able to create at least one high-profile rematch from earlier in the season as a prelude to the actual Pac-12 championship game Dec. 4 at the home stadium of the highest-seeded team. “We’re eager to see what happens and we’ll see at the end of the season if it paid dividends, if it works it gives us as a conference a better chance of having one of our teams in the CFP playoff,” Oregon State athletic director Kevin Griffin said.

framing: assertive · carried by 1 article(s) · first seen 2026-08-27

🔮 The reincarnated Pac-12 will try to flex its way into the College Football Playoff.

2026-08-27 · Toronto Star

New-look Pac-12 looking to flex its way into CFP with unique schedule at end of regular season · assertive framing

Claims (22 extracted, 0 hedged)

The reincarnated Pac-12 will try to flex its way into the College Football Playoff. asserted

Pac-12 → reincarnate → Playoff

No longer an automatic-bid Power Five conference, the Pac-12 will use an unusual “flex” schedule during the final week of the regular season to enhance its postseason chances. asserted

Pac-12 → use → chances

It is by far one of the most ambitious moves in the chase to make the highly lucrative CFP. asserted

It → make → CFP

“We can kind of manipulate the schedule in a way that it’s the most advantageous to our teams, whether it’s for bowl access, CFP access,” Pac-12 Commissioner Teresa Gould said. asserted

Gould → manipulate → access

“It was a genius idea and I’m thrilled that our ADs, our coaches and others were on board with moving forward with this asserted

ADs → ’m → this

The Pac-12 was forced to reinvent itself after a mass exodus put the century-old conference’s future in doubt, leaving Oregon State and Washington State as the only teams standing. asserted

exodus → force → teams

The conference rebuilt itself by adding six new teams for football — Boise State, Colorado State, San Diego State, Utah State, Texas State and Fresno State — with Gonzaga joining in basketball. asserted

Gonzaga → rebuild → basketball

The Pac-12 also worked out new media rights deals so all of its games would be shown on linear TV. asserted

all → work → TV

Finding a path to the CFP turned into a big hurdle for the re-formed conference. asserted

Finding → find → conference

The previous iteration of the Pac-12 was as a Power Five conference, providing a clearer path to the CFP. asserted

iteration → provide → CFP

The new-look league is now part of the Group of Six, which has one guaranteed CFP spot going to the highest-ranked team from the six conferences. asserted

which → have → conferences

The rest of the 12-team playoff is filled out by the teams with the best resumes. asserted

rest → fill → resumes

The Pac-12 faced operational scheduling challenges with an eight-team league, its schools potentially needing to find five nonconference games — not an easy task in the current Football Bowl Subdivision climate. asserted

schools → face → climate

The Pac-12 found a solution that would not only alleviate the need to find one extra conference game, but strengthen its CFP hopes. asserted

that → find → hopes

Griffin → create → playoff

“And that’s what the goal is: is to make sure we’re giving ourselves all the opportunities available to get in there.” asserted

giving → ’ → opportunities

Because the conference wants every team to have four home league games, Colorado State, Utah State, Fresno State and Washington State will host the flex games. asserted

State → want → games

The games won’t count in conference standings and matchups will be determined six days in advance. asserted

matchups → count → advance

“It’s better for our TV partners in terms of the quality of the matchups, the quality of the games,” Gould said. asserted

Gould → ’ → games

“It’s better competitively in terms of strength of schedule and CFP positioning and the way that the flex is going to work. asserted

flex → ’ → that

We can kind of manipulate the schedule in a way that it’s the most advantageous to our teams.” asserted

it → manipulate → teams

___ AP Sports Writer Annie Peterson contributed to this report. asserted

Peterson → contribute → report