NCAA votes to allow Big 12 to hold football title game

The conference was able to win a key legislative compromise Wednesday at the NCAA convention that would allow it to hold a football title game with 10 members since it plays a round-robin schedule.

The new rule will allow any conference with fewer than 12 members to hold a championship game between its top two teams in the standings as long as it plays a round-robin schedule, regardless of whether there’s a divisional alignment.

For example, this past season, Oklahoma and Oklahoma State, the top two teams at the end of the regular season, could have played in a title game just a week or two after the Sooners beat the Cowboys in the Bedlam rivalry showdown.

“We are constantly monitoring the environment”, Bowlsby said.

The ACC, which wanted full conference championship game deregulation (perhaps to do something like break into three divisions), voted against the legislation.

Another source said: “I guess there could be some way” to have a 2016 conference championship game, but added it was “doubtful”.

Bowlsby will discuss those plans with Big 12 presidents and athletic directors in the near future but acknowledged a Big 12 title game could be worth $25 million to $30 million in TV rights. It’s the only Power 5 conference not to hold a title game.

The vote means that the Big 12 will not need to expand.

The proposal, made by the Big 12, passed 7-2.

“It is too early to speculate on the impact this will have with our member institutions regarding a football championship game”, Bowlsby said in a statement.

Bad news for those hoping other conferences would force the Big 12 to expand.