Nearly two years ago, the ACC proposed legislation to the NCAA that would have completely deregulated the way conference championship games are run.
This was not because the ACC wanted to radically change its own structure or its own championship game. But in an era of autonomy, the league wanted the flexibility to determine what it wanted to do without restrictions attached. What would deregulation mean? No requirements to have 12 teams and two divisions to hold a title game at the end of the season.
Several months later, the Big 12 decided to hop on board with the legislation, too.