The Big 12 is not going to add a football conference championship game, despite the building speculation that suggested the opposite was bound to happen.
According to USA Today, Big 12 commissioner Bob Bowlsby announced the conference's decision Tuesday after meeting with his member athletic directors. He said the conference will seek other ways to prevent being held out of the College Football Playoff (CFP) like they were this past season.
"I really have been proud of our athletic directors because they chose to respond to not being in the playoff rather than react," ESPN quoted Bowlsby telling reporters. "I think they've been very thoughtful about it and continue to be thoughtful about it. We all believe that one year is not a long enough window or trial to draw any conclusions.
"We may find ourselves in better shape than some other conferences as a result of our model, not in spite of our model."
TCU went into the final week of the season third overall in the CFP committee's rankings, but dropped out of the top four despite capping their season with a big win. The Big 12 named TCU and Baylor co-champions despite the latter's head-to-head win over the former and Ohio State ultimately rose to fourth overall after winning the Big Ten title game.
Numerous Big 12 personnel spoke out on being snubbed from the inaugural CFP and the speculation regarding a title game arose immediately. But the Big 12 will remain at least another season as the only Power 5 football conference without a title game.
"I just think it's a process," Bowlsby said. "That isn't to say we won't ever consider those things again or that we won't talk more tomorrow, but I just am not sensing that that's where we're heading.
"I'm quite comfortable in saying we'll come out with a resolution on that and a plan going forward."
