Pac-12 changes selection format for football championship
When it comes to the selection of teams for the Pac-12 football championship game, there will no longer have to be North and South representatives.
The conference announced Wednesday that starting with the coming season, the two teams with the highest conference winning percentage will face off in the championship game. This change would have resulted in a different Pac-12 Football Championship matchup in 5 five of the past 11 years.
The measure passed with unanimous support from the league’s head football coaches, athletic directors and board of directors.
The current Pac-12 conference football schedule, based on two divisions, will remain in place for the 2022 season. Scheduling scenarios for seasons beyond 2022 will continue to be reviewed.
“Our goal is to place our two best teams in our Pac-12 Football Championship Game, which we believe will provide our conference with the best opportunity to optimize CFP invitations and ultimately win national championships,” Pac-12 Commissioner George Kliavkoff said in a press release statement. “Today’s decision is an important step towards that goal and immediately increases both fan interest in, and the media value of, our Football Championship Game.”
The NCAA Division I Council approved Wednesday the deregulation of the current rule that had limited an individual conference’s autonomy to determine their football championship game participants. Based on a motion brought by the Pac-12 and unanimously supported by all FBS conferences, the NCAA’s Football Oversight Committee previously recommended this deregulation to the Division I Council.
Last year’s game pitted Oregon against Utah with the Utes prevailing 38-10. That would have been the same title game had the new format been used last year.
The 2020 game would have been vastly different. The official game was to have pitted USC against Washington but Washington was unable to compete due to COVID and was replaced by Oregon. Under the soon-to-be-implemented format, USC would have played Colorado.