Tuesday, April 19, 2005

Nothing political, unless you went a Big 12 School

The following is an article from the Austin American Statesman about possibly eliminating the two divisions in the Big 12 Conference. Admittedly, I'm just bitter about Texas (my alma mater) getting screwed out of the Big 12 Championship game every year by Oklahoma, but if this change goes through, that wouldn't be a problem anymore.

"Several Big 12 football coaches said Monday they would like to explore the possibility of eliminating the North and South divisions when they gather for the May 23-26 league meetings.

Only football among the 21 Big 12-sponsored sports is split into divisions, for the purpose of providing the teams for the conference championship game.

Texas' Mack Brown and Oklahoma's Bob Stoops put aside their intense rivalry to agree on the advantage of having one overall league, with the top two teams playing in the championship game. Coaches don't like the championship game, especially with Big 12-sponsored NCAA legislation for a 12th regular-season game likely to pass.

Supporters said eliminating divisions would rule out a scenario like the 2004 league title game in which North Division champ Colorado entered with a 4-4 conference record. Under a non-divisional format, OU and UT would have met for the league title last season because they had the two best records in the Big 12.

"I'd really like to see something like that," Brown said of eliminating divisions. "If we keep the championship game, I'd love to see a situation where the best two teams play at the end."

Added Stoops: "It might just improve the overall general welfare if there isn't a north and south and everybody is all together. I see a lot of good in it, I would think."

Coaches' recommendations at the meetings in Colorado Springs, Colo., are forwarded to the league's athletic directors for consideration. Should the ADs agree to a proposal, it then moves on to the Big 12's faculty representatives for deliberation, and then on to presidents of the league schools for a final vote at their June 5-7 meeting in Dallas."

Though I doubt it will happen, I would really like to see this change go into effect. I think the two best teams should play each other. It would probably not even be an issue if there wasn't such a disparity between the North and South divisions. Though AC Patriot(a Colorado Alum) will probably disagree, I just don't think that a team that would have finished 5th in the South division should play in the Big 12 Championship.