The Big 12 was the only Power 5 conference that was left out of the College Football Playoff, as both co-champions (Baylor and TCU) finished just outside the top four in the selection committee's rankings.
Many assumed that this was because the Big 12 is the only one that does not have a conference championship game. Now, they're doing something about it.
Big 12 commissioner Bob Bowlsby has teamed up with ACC commissioner John Swofford to talk to the rest of the Power 5 conferences to get the Big 12 a waiver to have a title game. Current NCAA rules say that a conference must have at least 12 teams to have a conference championship game, and the Big 12 only has 10.
"It's clear that we were penalized for not having a postseason championship game, and it would have been nice to have been told that ahead of time," Bowlsby said. "We made the impression that we had a different model, but it wasn't one that was going to penalize us. I think it's clear that it did, and I think it was even said that it did. That will cause us to go back to the drawing board a little bit and talk about whether or not we need to think about a different model."
Bowlsby also said that the Big 12 is considering also expanding to 12 teams, and have reached out to both Cincinnati and Memphis already. BYU has also expressed interest in joining the conference.
RELATED ARTICLES
Ranking The 5 Best Candidates The Big 12 Should Add To Make A Championship Game Possible
Back to the NCAA Newsfeed