On Wednesday afternoon, the NCAA Division I Council announced a change that has been in the works for some time. Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) conferences will no longer be required to have divisions in order to stage a conference football championship game.
Conferences will now be able to scrap their divisions if they desire. East, West, North, South, Atlantic, Coastal, and Mountain could be terms of the past.
Shortly after the statement from the NCAA, the Pac-12 announced that they have modified their football conference championship game format for the 2022 season.
The Pac-12 Conference, which is split into North and South divisions, will now place the two teams with the highest conference winning percentage in the championship game beginning in 2022.
“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,” said Pac-12 Commissioner George Kliavkoff. “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.”
Based on a table included in the Pac-12 release, five of the 11 Pac-12 Championship games would have had a different matchup had division winners not been required. Most recently, the 2020 contest would have featured No. 13 USC vs. No. 25 Colorado instead of USC vs. Oregon (Oregon replaced Washington, who was unable to play).
The Pac-12 will keep its 2022 football schedule and division alignment for the 2022 season. However, the conference stated that “…scheduling scenarios for seasons beyond 2022 will continue to be reviewed.”
Pac-12 teams currently play a nine-game conference schedule with three non-conference opponents. That likely won’t change unless the Big Ten Conference also changes their format and moves back to an eight-game conference slate.