Looks like they threw a bone to Boise and ASU by giving them byes. This while taking 4 home playoff games giving the home team a high likelihood of a win and no huge layoffs.

For a conference getting home playoff games is better than getting a bye. It provides tons of revenue and will make their playoff records look much better than conferences that don’t get home’s games. Giving a bone to Boise would have been giving them a home game. Imagine a sec team traveling to Boise in December. Not a month long layoff and then a difficult first round .

ND is in the best spot with no ccg and generally a home game. So they get a bye at the end of the season when needed and then a home game. They didn’t have the long layoff rust .