SEC Commissioner Greg Sankey yesterday said that his conference "will vote against proposals that would change the format of football championship games, but he did indicate a willingness to find a different way for the Big 12 to stage a championship game if it wants one," according to Jon Solomon of CBSSPORTS.com. Sankey asked, “Is there a way to allow a 10-team conference to play full round robin and play a championship game? I think that's worthy of a conversation, but it hasn't been introduced for formal consideration at this point.” Big 12 Commissioner Bob Bowlsby said that the conference "does not want to add members or be forced to play two divisions." Solomon noted the ACC and Big 12 long ago "developed legislation that would basically allow conferences to determine how they stage championship games." A year ago, it "looked like this legislation would easily pass," but that is "no longer the case." The Big Ten "submitted an amendment that would require conference title games to only be held between division winners." Bowlsby said that the Big 12 "could go to two, five-team divisions as the Big Ten proposal would require." But the Big 12 "wants to avoid that because its two best teams could be on one side of the division." Bowlsby: "I'm not convinced that a full round robin isn't the most viable and most reliable way to determine your champion. ... We have a nine-game requirement in our contracts with Fox and ESPN, but theoretically, we could renegotiate those and go to an eight-game schedule that might give us more flexibility" (CBSSPORTS.com, 1/10).
FINDING A MIDDLE GROUND: In Dallas, Chuck Carlton notes Bowlsby yesterday "remained hopeful" of some kind of agreement this week at the NCAA convention in San Antonio. Bowlsby in a text message wrote, "I do not think full deregulation will be accepted but it seems we might have a compromise that might work." The vote is scheduled for Wednesday, and "each of the power five conferences count as two votes." The Group of Five conferences "have one vote each" (DALLAS MORNING NEWS, 1/11). ACC Commissioner John Swofford, who is co-sponsoring the measure with the Big 12, said of the vote, “Obviously, it’s a bigger issue for the Big 12 than it is for anyone else. We’ve been very supportive of what Bob Bowlsby has put forward and his desire to have some freedom there from Day One. But it’s based mainly on philosophical beliefs on that fundamental autonomy for the conferences (rather) than any real desire for what we would do" (AUSTIN AMERICAN-STATESMAN, 1/11).
