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Pros and cons of a Big 12 football championship game

By Rucker Haringey

Dec 5, 2015; Waco, TX, USA; A view of the Big 12 logo on a touchdown pylon during the game between the Baylor Bears and the Texas Longhorns at McLane Stadium. The Longhorns defeat the Bears 23-17. Mandatory Credit: Jerome Miron-USA TODAY Sports
Dec 5, 2015; Waco, TX, USA; A view of the Big 12 logo on a touchdown pylon during the game between the Baylor Bears and the Texas Longhorns at McLane Stadium. The Longhorns defeat the Bears 23-17. Mandatory Credit: Jerome Miron-USA TODAY Sports /
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Dec 5, 2015; Indianapolis, IN, USA; Michigan State Spartans quarterback Connor Cook (18) looks to pass during the third quarter against the Iowa Hawkeyes in the Big Ten Conference football championship game at Lucas Oil Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Brian Spurlock-USA TODAY Sports
Dec 5, 2015; Indianapolis, IN, USA; Michigan State Spartans quarterback Connor Cook (18) looks to pass during the third quarter against the Iowa Hawkeyes in the Big Ten Conference football championship game at Lucas Oil Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Brian Spurlock-USA TODAY Sports /

Con: One more chance for a loss

The best way to guarantee your place in the College Football Playoff is to run the table provided you’re in a Power 5 Conference like the Big 12. Adding a taxing conference championship game at the end of the year significantly lowers the probability of producing a team that makes it through their schedule unscathed.

Just think about it. A Big 12 team that makes it through their regular season would undoubtedly have a resume worthy of making the top-four. The worst thing that could happen to that team, and the Big 12, would be to have them trip up in a conference title game against an inferior opponent.

College football can be a wacky game and strange things can happen in conference championship games. It’s particularly challenging to beat the same team multiple times in one year which is going to be the challenge more often than not. Even with a division setup you’re going to see a lot of re-matches.

The flip side of this argument is that having a conference title game can potentially give a team a chance to play their way into the Playoff in the season’s last week. I acknowledge this could certainly happen on occasion, but would be the case less often than the previous scenario.

Adding a conference title game in the Big 12 makes it harder to get a member school into the College Football Playoff. It’s just one more opportunity for an undefeated team to trip up at a point in the season where it’s too late to recover.

Next: Pro: Corrects scheduling imbalances

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