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Big 12 considering title game

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IRVING, Texas (AP) – Big 12 Commissioner Bob Bowlsby says he believes the conference will move toward having a championship football game because not having one puts it at a disadvantage when it comes placing teams in the College Football Playoff.

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

Bowlsby said he spoke with selection committee chairman Jeff Long this week during the College Football Playoff meetings in North Texas and came away convinced not having a conference championship game was a problem last season and will continue to be an issue for the league.

“What we heard was that if we don’t go to a championship game, we’re at a disadvantage,” Bowlsby said. “

The Big 12 is the lone Big Five conference that has only 10 teams and does not have a title game. NCAA rules do not allow a conference to have championship football game unless it has 12 teams split into two divisions. The Big 12, along with the Atlantic Coast Conference, is sponsoring a proposal to deregulate those rules, which would allow a conference to hold a championship game with any number of teams. If the proposal passes, the Big 12 could implement a championship game as soon as 2016.

Bowlsby has maintained all along that the Big 12 was not making the proposal because it planned to hold a title game, but simply wanted the option to do so.

“Now it’s incumbent upon us to make the necessary changes that minimize that disadvantage,” he said. “I surmise we will probably move in that direction, knowing what we know now.”

Baylor and TCU tied for the Big 12 title last season with 11-1 records, but both finished behind Ohio State (12-1) in the final playoff committee rankings. The Buckeyes earned the fourth semifinal spot with a 59-0 victory against Wisconsin the day before selection Sunday. On that same day, the Horned Frogs and Bears were completing their regular seasons with victories. The Big 12 decided to name them co-champions instead of using a tiebreaker to designate one as the champion.

Baylor beat TCU 61-58 in the regular season. The Bears finished fifth in the final playoff rankings and the Horned Frogs were sixth. Going into the final weekend of the regular season, TCU was third, Ohio State was fifth and Baylor was sixth.

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