The sky is not falling on the Big 12, says Oklahoma president David Boren. This form a man who once said the Big 12 was psychologically disadvantaged last summer.
Big 12 presidents are scheduled to meet next week, but Boren is not expecting a vote on the possible addition of a Big 12 championship game to be on the table. Instead, Boren is expected to continue his public push to evaluate potential expansion options to return the 10-member conference to 12, at which time he would like to see a championship game return to the conference.
“I would emphasize: I don’t think the Big 12 Conference is in any danger of falling apart,” Boren said, per The Daily Oklahoman. “I don’t. There’s no imminent danger of that, nor is there anybody even considering that, I don’t think. Our first choice by far in every possibility for us is to stay in the Big 12 Conference and enhance it, make it stronger, make it better.”
Boren has not been shy about sharing his concerns regarding the stability of the Big 12 over the past couple of years, especially recently with the power conferences gaining autonomy powers. This has opened the door for conversation about conference championship reform among the power conferences, which would allow the Big 12 to hold a conference championship game with 10 members and allow the ACC (and others if desired) to rework the conference championship game model rather than have division champions locked in.
The emphasis on adding a conference championship game to the Big 12 surfaced more in 2014 when co-conference champions Baylor and TCU were left out of the College Football Playoff. Some of that concern was diminished this past season when Oklahoma won the Big 12 title in outright fashion and received a spot in the playoff. The importance of the conference championship game was demonstrated by Ohio State in the Big Ten in 2014 when it blasted Wisconsin for one last resounding final impression, while Baylor and TCU each won conference games against inferior competition. The lesson learned though is each season has its own scenarios and outcomes, and it may not matter f the Big 12 has a conference championship or not most years. Still, there is money to be made with a conference championship game, and not having one holds the Big 12 revenue back compared to its power conference rivals.
The Big 12 needs to come together to decide if the championship game is worth the risk in the playoff picture, and also needs to decide if it is more beneficial to expand back to 12 before implementing a title game again. Expansion for the sake of expansion is not a wise move, and there has been an apparent lack of interest in expansion from the Big 12 since dropping to 10 members. Odds are the Big 12 will one day have 12 members again, but will it have a conference championship first?