NEW YORK -- For the first time in the three years I’ve been attending the Hall of Fame and Heisman week events here, the Big 12 opened its Monday evening reception to the media.

Perhaps that was just coincidence. Or maybe the league was looking for friends after what happened this past weekend.

Being shut out of the initial College Football Playoff was a dominant part of the conversation in the swanky Waldorf-Astoria ballroom, as you’d expect.

Big 12 sources talked about scheduling, naming a champion and the odds they would look to a championship game or expansion.