MORGANTOWN, W.Va. — The Big 12 now wields the option of staging a football championship game next season without expanding to 12 members under a rule change approved Wednesday by the NCAA Division I Council.
West Virginia athletics director Shane Lyons spent a combined 12 years working in the ACC and at Alabama, two entities familiar with championship games. His advice should the Big 12 adopt its own variation: Root the game in an indoor stadium where it can become a fan destination and build community support.
“The first couple years of the SEC Championship (in 1992-1993), it wasn’t very successful in Birmingham, but they made a great deal going to Atlanta and that thing has just built to where it’s an event by itself,’” Lyons said.