Big 12 To Hold Championship Game

The Big 12 Conference will once again feature a football conference championship game after the 10-member league unanimously approved it on Friday.

The title game will return during the 2017 season.

The approval came in voting from conference presidents and chancellors, according to commissioner Bob Bowlsby.

The Big 12 last held a conference title game in 2010, when Colorado and Nebraska left, and was the lone Power 5 conference without one.

In recent years, the Big 12 often pointed out that it was the lone league deciding a true champion as its schools played a nine-game, round-robin schedule.

But offseason discussions provided the view that not having a conference title game was hurting the league’s prospects of getting a team into the four-team College Football Playoff.

Earlier this year, the NCAA ruled a 10-team conference could hold a conference title game. The rule previously stated a league must have 12 teams.

Bowlsby said the championship game will provide an estimated $27-28 million in extra revenue.

The Big 12 hasn’t ruled out expanding to 12 teams.