Didn't the ACC work last year's CFP National Championship, as well?
Historically, the Power 5 would never allow a non-Power 5 crew to work a national championship game. Theoretically, that could change with the 12-Team format beginning next year, but I doubt it. There will always be a Power 5 conference available to work the NCG, so the Mountain West, C-USA, MAC, etc., or whatever new non-Power 5 conferences develop, will never be allowed to work a NCG. You ask, "But what if a non-Power 5 team plays in (or, heaven forbid, WINS) a NCG?" Yeah, it would seem 'fair' to allow the conference of that team to be at least 'eligible' to work a future NCG.
But, here is reality. Some years back, when the Champion was 'selected' by the media from among the BCS bowl game winners, the WAC was 'promised' that, if the WAC ever got a team into a BCS Bowl game, their officiating staff would be given a BCS Bowl game the next year. So, what happened? Well, Boise State beat Oklahoma in the 2007 Fiesta Bowl. Did the WAC staff get a BCS Bowl game in 2008 - or EVER? No. No frickin' way was Jim Delaney gonna let a non-BCS conference staff work a BCS bowl game.
As for teams playing in the playoffs, in 2014, heading into the selections for first ever playoff series, TCU had been consistently ranked higher than Ohio State. I was vacationing in Hawaii and was talking to our bed-breakfast host and told him that there was no way Jim Delaney would allow TCU to get into the playoffs, especially to the exclusion of the Big 10. "How did I know?" he asked. I told him that I had been in a meeting in which he addressed the audience, and he made it very clear that he believed the Big 10 invented football, and that nobody else, with the possible exception of the SEC, should be allowed to play football.
So, what happened? The next thing you know, Ohio State leap-frogged TCU in the subjective rankings and got into the playoffs. Delaney must have called in a lot of markers with the sports writers and coaches, but he kept TCU out.
That culture remains, even though Delaney retired after 2020. And the SEC is no better. They'll both do everything they can to prevent 'outside' teams from getting into the playoffs, and they dang sure won't let a non-Power 5 officiating staff work a NCG.
I would love to be proven wrong. I assure you. There are officials working in the 'group of 5' conferences that are every bit as good as those in the Power 5. This is no insult to those in the Power 5. They are good people and very good officials. But so are those in the 'group of 5.'
