Report: Football conference title games to be deregulated by 2016
Conference title games are expected to be deregulated in time for the 2016 season, Dennis Dodd of CBS Sports reports.
A move to deregulation would allow conferences to create choose means of selecting participants in its conference title games, such as national rankings instead of division winners. Under the current rules, only leagues with 12 teams are eligible to play a championship game and they must have round-robin play inside the divisions.
The Big 12 and ACC are working on legislation to deregulate the games, but for different reasons. The Big 12 wants the option of holding a title game despite having just 10 teams, while the ACC’s goal have not been stated outright.
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"I think there's some belief that ACC would play three divisions, have two highest ranked play in postseason," said Bob Bowlsby, chairman of the new NCAA Football Oversight Committee. Really, nobody cares how you determine your champion. It should be a conference-level decision.
"But because the ACC has persisted in saying, 'We're not sure what we'll do,' there's probably a little bit of a shadow over it. In the end, I don't think it'll be able to hold it up. We'll probably have it in place for '16."
Deregulating the title games could allow for conferences to ensure its top two teams play in the game to boost the winner’s chances of being selected to play in the College Football Playoff.
Bowlsby’s Oversight Committee will review the proposed changes and then be able to submit it to the NCAA Council before it is enacted.
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