The Big 12 was in the news again on Friday but this time for ignoring something its coaches want as it moves forward to its 2017 conference title game.
From the conference's website:
The Big 12 Conference has announced that the participating teams for its football championship game will be the two highest placed teams in the conference standings.
“There are a number of advantages to matching our top two teams,” said Commissioner Bob Bowlsby. “Given our round-robin, nine-game scheduling model, it is expected the Big 12 champion will be uniquely positioned for College Football Playoff consideration. I would argue there will be no path more difficult than our champion’s, where it will have played every team in the Conference, faced at least one Autonomy Conference non-conference opponent, and then plays in our championship game. The guaranteed No. 1 vs. No. 2 matchup will be a great game for our fans, and it’s hard to imagine a stronger position for a conference champion.”
The format will help the conference pit its two best teams against one another for a solid chance a College Football Playoff berth (depending on their records) but according to ESPN's Brett McMurphy, Big 12's coaches would rather have it another way.
Big 12s decision not to have divisions is surprising. Coaches voted 7-3 in favor of splitting into divisions, sources told @ESPN
— Brett McMurphy (@McMurphyESPN) October 28, 2016
One True Champion. One True Divison. Apparently. Also, this is LOL-worthy.
big 12 spent $ on consultants to help playoff chances, then did the opposite
— Allen Kenney (@BlatantHomerism) October 28, 2016
This move also assures the Big 12 will never have more than one team in the College Football Playoff per season (if any at all), even though we haven't seen two teams from the same conference make it to college football's final four during its first two seasons of existence.
Can't wait for the Big 12 Champion to have three losses while its runner-up has one and the conference is left out of the College Football Playoff.
