Big 12 Commissioner suggests league could institute championship game
Big 12 commissioner Bob Bowlsby said on Wednesday the conference could move toward instituting a football championship game pending NCAA approval, according to ESPN.
"What we heard is if we don't go to a championship game we're at a disadvantage," Bowlsby said, referring to discussion at College Football Playoff meetings Wednesday. CFP chairman Jeff Long told Bowlsby, "13 data points are better than 12," according to CBS Sports. A conference championship game would represent a 13th regular season game.
The change could only occur if the NCAA adopted a proposed rule to allow conference championships for leagues with fewer than 12 teams, the Dallas Morning-Newsreported.
The Big 12 is the only one of the Power Five football conferences not to have a conference football championship game at the end of the regular season.
During the 2014 season, Baylor and TCU finished tied for first in the conference at 8-1, generating. Neither team was ultimately selected to be one of the four teams to make it to the College Football Playoff, losing out to the champions of each of Pac 12, Big Ten, SEC and ACC.
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Long previously said that Big Ten champion Ohio State benefited from playing a 13th game last season. The Buckeyes were the last team to make the four-team CFP, receiving the fourth-seed.
While acknowledging that a 13th game benefited the Buckeyes, CFP executive director Bill Hancock maintained that there was no movement to require leagues to play a conference championship game.
- Will Green
