Big 12 championship game likely to be played at neutral site

No one knows exactly what the Big 12 championship football game will look like when it returns in 2017, but fans can bank on it being played at a neutral site on a Saturday in early December.

Big 12 commissioner Bob Bowlsby said Monday at the conference’s media days that the game is unlikely to be played at a campus stadium. Instead, the conference intends to bid the game out to professional stadiums across the region, such as Kansas City’s Arrowhead Stadium or AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas.

Previous Big 12 championship games were played in San Antonio, St. Louis, Kansas City, Houston and the Dallas area.

Bowlsby also said the league has asked ESPN and Fox, which will broadcast the game on a rotating basis, for a kickoff time between 11 a.m. and 7 p.m.

“Those are components of it that we know a fair amount about at this point,” Bowlsby said, “and I wouldn’t suggest that all of those things are going to be resolved just as I detailed them, but my guess is based upon conversations with our athletic directors that those things are among the things that would end up being resolved.”

How will the Big 12 decide which teams play in the championship game? That question may take longer to answer.

Some in the Big 12 want the league to split into a pair of five-team divisions, with the champion of each playing in the title game. Others prefer no split, with the two teams atop the regular season standings advancing to the championship.

Bowlsby said there is currently more enthusiasm for the divisional model, but there is debate on how the divisions could be created.

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. One year, Texas and Oklahoma could be in the same division. The next, they could be seperated.

But a traditional geographic split, similar to the old Big 12 North/South setup, is also on the table.

In the case of divisions, an importance will be placed on scheduling. Divisional matchups and games between teams with realistic conference championship hopes will need to play early in hopes of avoiding a quick rematch in the Big 12 championship game.

“Had we had a championship game last year, it would have been a rematch of Oklahoma State and Oklahoma, and it would have been a week after they had just played,” Bowlsby said. “That’s happened some. In the Pac-12, I know that Stanford and UCLA played each other on consecutive weeks a few years ago. It’s not ideal.”

There is much to discuss before the Big 12 makes any final decisions, but fans can expect a clearer picture near the end of the upcoming football season.

“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,” Bowlsby said. “I would like to know our site and date.”

Expansion resolution — Is the Big 12 still interested in expansion?

That’s a question Bowlsby would like to address head-on Tuesday after Big 12 presidents meet in Dallas. Expansion has loomed over the conference for months, with schools such as BYU, Cincinnati, South Florida, Central Florida and Connecticut thrown around as possible targets.

Expansion talk has dwindled in recent weeks, but the Big 12 has made no public stance on the topic. One way or another, Bowlsby is ready for that to change.

“I would like to have us resolve these matters and we need not to have the outstanding issues continue to bubble,” Bowlsby said. “That is my aspiration.”

More camera angles — Big 12 officials should be able to more accurately judge whether a touchdown or turnover occurred while viewing the play on replay review.

The conference will use new camera angles for its reviews. In the past, officials have looked at TV replays when deciding on a call. This year, they will also see video used on stadium videoboards.

This story was originally published July 18, 2016 at 2:40 PM with the headline "Big 12 championship game likely to be played at neutral site."