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Bob Bowlsby: Big 12 likely headed toward football championship game

By Jack Crosby

Jul 21, 2014; Dallas, TX, USA; Big 12 commissioner Bob Bowlsby speaks to the media during the Big 12 Media Day at the Omni Dallas. Mandatory Credit: Kevin Jairaj-USA TODAY Sports
Jul 21, 2014; Dallas, TX, USA; Big 12 commissioner Bob Bowlsby speaks to the media during the Big 12 Media Day at the Omni Dallas. Mandatory Credit: Kevin Jairaj-USA TODAY Sports /
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After the controversy in 2014, it looks like the Big 12 could be headed toward a football championship game soon

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Big 12 commissioner Bob Bowlsby admitted on Wednesday that it would likely be beneficial to his conference to hold a football conference title game, according to Brett McMurphy of ESPN. Bowlsby made the revelation while noting what we learned last season on the road to the College Football Playoff, that being 13 games give your chances of making the field more of a boost than 12 does.

“Having 13 [games] is superior to having 12,” Bowlsby said. “It kind of gives us guidance what we need to be doing in the future.”

Heading into the final College Football Playoff rankings of the season last year, the TCU Horned Frogs of the Big 12 seemed in good position to be one of the four teams competing for the national championship, sitting firmly in the No. 3 spot. However, after Ohio State thrashed Wisconsin in their Big Ten title game, the Buckeyes were given the nod and TCU was left out.

But, TCU wasn’t the only team in the Big 12 that had a gripe. The team that handed them their only loss of the season, the Baylor Bears, also vehemently were stating their case to get in, as they only had one loss on their resume as well. So at the end of the day, both programs suffered from the Big 12 not having that 13th game of the season.

Still, though, Bowlsby is sticking to his story that he was unaware not having a conference title game would hurt his conference’s chances as much as it did.

“My only objection — let me be as clear as I can: the selection committee did a remarkable job — but we didn’t hear about the 13th data point until the last day of the season [last year],” Bowlsby said. “That was my question today.”

If the Big 12 does indeed stick to 10 teams, then the move to the conference title game can’t be implemented until 2016 when the conference championship games are deregulated and the 12-team requirement with two divisions is gone for good.

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