Pac-12 announces change to football championship game format
The method by which the Pac-12 decides its football champion is going to look much different next season.
On Wednesday, the conference announced that it is scrapping its division format and has changed how it will determine the teams that qualify for the Pac-12 Football Championship Game.
Starting in 2022, the two teams with the highest conference winning percentage will face off in the championship game. According to a press release issued by the conference, this change would have resulted in a different Pac-12 Football Championship matchup in 5 of the past 11 years.
Since the Pac-12 Championship game was introduced in 2011, the Ducks have featured in it four times (2011, 2014, 2019, 2021). Under the new format, they would have also qualified in 2012 and 2015.
Last season, the Ducks fell 38-10 to Utah in the Championship Game.
You can read the conference’s entire statement on the format change below.
Pac-12 statement
SAN FRANCISCO — The Pac-12 conference today announced a change to how it will determine the teams that qualify for the Pac-12 Football Championship Game, presented by 76.
Starting in 2022, the two teams with the highest conference winning percentage will face off in the championship game. This change would have resulted in a different Pac-12 Football Championship matchup in 5 of the past 11 years.
The measure passed with unanimous support from the league’s head football coaches, athletic directors and board of directors.
The current Pac-12 conference football schedule, based upon two divisions, will remain in place for the 2022 season. Scheduling scenarios for seasons beyond 2022 will continue to be reviewed.
“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.”
The NCAA Division I Council approved today the deregulation of the current rule that had limited an individual conference’s autonomy to determine their football championship game participants. Based on a motion brought by the Pac-12 and unanimously supported by all FBS conferences, the NCAA’s Football Oversight Committee previously recommended this deregulation to the Division I Council.
