Big 12 Commissioner Bob Bowlsby Comments on Expansion, Conference Title Game

The No. 4 Oklahoma Sooners reached the College Football Playoff this season without having to play in a conference championship game. If the Big 12 gets its way, though, that avenue will no longer be possible in the near future, although the Big Ten is reportedly standing in its way.

According to Heather Dinich of ESPN.com, "The Big 12 was expecting a formal proposal of the deregulation of conference championship games to pass easily next month, but the Big Ten filed a last-minute amendment in November that could prevent the Big 12 from having a conference championship game as early as 2016.”

Big 12 Commissioner Bob Bowlsby commented on the development, per Dinich: “We're trying to work our way through it, but I'm less certain of the outcome than I was before. We don't think we ought to be forced into adding schools in order to have a championship game, but it could end up that way.”

Conferences must have at least 12 teams and two divisions to have a conference title game under the current rules. The Big 12 has only 10 members and is the only Power Five league without a championship contest at the end of the season. Ideally for the Big 12, this proposal would make it possible to have a conference title game with its 10-team format.

Big Ten Commissioner Jim Delaney didn't seem concerned with keeping the Big 12 from having a title game. Instead, he was worried about keeping things similar between leagues moving forward, per Dinich:

"

I agree a conference should not have to expand in order to have a championship game. That wouldn't be right. That's tail wagging dog. On the other hand, I want to have some familiarity -- some knowledge as to how these things are going to play out. I don't want unintended consequences. I don't want to wake up one morning and see some odd structure that's unfamiliar.

We don't think he should have to expand to have the same option we have, but we feel he should have a structure similar to ours.

"

Dinich noted the Big Ten’s amendment calls for the title game to be between division champions instead of having a game between the top two teams without divisions, which the deregulation option would allow for.

Last year, the Big 12 was hurt without a conference title game, as Ohio State leapfrogged TCU and Baylor in the final CFP rankings on the strength of its dominant performance against Wisconsin in the Big Ten Championship Game.

However, the Sooners reached the playoff this season and didn’t have to worry about potentially losing at the end like fellow playoff teams Alabama, Clemson and Michigan State did. A two-year sample size is too small to determine whether a conference title game would truly benefit or hurt the Big 12 in terms of making the playoff, but deregulation would at least give the league a chance to have one.

The vote will take place during the NCAA convention in San Antonio (Jan. 13 to Jan. 16). The 10 FBS leagues on the NCAA council will vote, although the Power Five leagues get two votes while each other conference gets one.