Big 12 Allowed Championship Game With 10 Teams, No Longer Need Expansion

That came after the Big 12 missed the first Playoff due in part to its teams playing one fewer game than other conference champions did, though it can be argued the Big 12’s lack of a title game helped Oklahoma get into 2015’s Playoff.

“I appreciate that what was acted upon today takes into account our unique 10-team, full round-robin scheduling model”, Big 12 Commissioner Bob Bowlsby said in a statement.

Big 12 Commissioner Bob Bowlsby announced Wednesday that the NCAA Division 1 Legislative Council will allow conferences without 12 members to hold a championship game.

The Big 12, along with the ACC, had initially proposed full deregulation of championship games.

The Big 12 was given the right to stage a football championship game in its current format without the need for expansion.

Bowlsby said the 77 percent of those in the room voted for the amendment. The Atlantic Coast Conference and the American Athletic Conference voted against it, while the Pac-12 didn’t vote. The conference put forth a proposal at the NCAA’s annual convention in San Antonio on Wednesday to deregulate how conferences conduct their championship games.

The vote by the NCAA Division I Council passed 7-2 on Wednesday. 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.