Big 12 Commissioner Bob Bowlsby yesterday said that the conference intends to bid out its football championship game when it returns in '17 "to professional stadiums across the region," according to Kellis Robinett of the K.C. STAR. Previous Big 12 championship games were played in San Antonio, St. Louis, K.C., Houston and the Dallas area. Bowlsby, speaking at the league's media days, also said that the Big 12 "has asked ESPN and Fox, which will broadcast the game on a rotating basis, for a kickoff time" between 11:00am and 7:00pm CT. Meanwhile, Bowlsby said that there is "currently more enthusiasm" for the league splitting into two divisions, but there is "debate on how the divisions could be created." Robinett notes flexible divisions, in which teams "would rotate between both divisions every few years based on performance, is a hot topic, because they would help create balance across the league" (K.C. STAR, 7/19). Bowlsby, who also spent a large amount of time yesterday discussing the Baylor scandal, said that the championship game "'definitely' will be played at a neutral site with a three-person committee of athletic directors sounding out potential venues." Bowlsby: "I would like to have all those questions answered by first of November, middle of November. By the end of the football season for sure" (FT. WORTH STAR-TELEGRAM, 7/19).
WITH A LITTLE HELP FROM OUR FRIENDS: In San Antonio, Tim Griffin notes city officials "hope to bid" on the Big 12 championship game in '17 for the Alamodome, although it "will take some allowances" from the Univ. of Texas-San Antonio to "pull off a deal." UTSA already "has a hold on the building for the first weekend of December" in the case the school hosts the Conference USA championship game. UTSA AD Lynn Hickey: "I would hate for us to be in a situation as a regular-season conference champion and we couldn’t host the championship game here. ... But at the same time, we want to be a really good working partner with the dome and the bowl" (SAN ANTONIO EXPRESS-NEWS, 7/19).
