An interesting summary and outlook on the B12 conference (academically and athletically):
http://www.desmoinesregister.com/story/sports/college/iowa-state/football/2016/06/09/iowa-state-president-steven-leath-big-12-realignment/85660904/
AMES, Ia. – Splitting up Big 12 Conference football into divisions based on seeding might be picking up a key vote.
Iowa State University president Steven Leath stopped short of an all-out endorsement, but he certainly didn’t say anything negative about the concept conference officials discussed at their spring meeting last week.
“The idea of re-seeding every year is intriguing,” Leath said during a break at Thursday’s Iowa Board of Regents meeting at Iowa State. “It differentiates us as a league. It keeps the league really vibrant, exciting and fresh.
“I think if we do that, other leagues will say “Wow, that’s a really neat idea.”
Big 12 Conference athletics directors voted on June 3 to stage a postseason conference championship football game, starting in 2017. It’s assumed the 10-team conference will split into two five-team divisions.
"The information we saw from our consultants was very compelling," commissioner Bob Bowlsby told reporters attending the meeting.
League officials were told that the College Football Playoff committee would look more favorably at the Big 12 if it had 13 games to evaluate, one more than the current 12.
Bowlsby didn’t say that means the league would automatically divide into two divisions, but that’s the way it appears headed.
While knee-jerk reaction among fans centered around the divisions being based on geography, a popular plan among conference officials was the seeding of teams according to the previous season’s standings.
In essence, that would mean placing teams finishing first, third, fifth, seventh, and ninth in one division, and the even-finishing teams in the other.
The divisions would change every year under that plan.
“(Re-seeding) is certainly creating a buzz right now,” Leath said. “The charge was to come up with the best format for the championship game.
“What the ADs were kicking around is the division idea, especially with the high likelihood that you wouldn’t play someone late in the season, and then play them for the championship.”
As long as it remains a 10-team league, Big 12 scheduling will continue to be round-robin. Football games against opponents in the opposite division will be played as early during the conference season as possible, in an effort to stay away from a potential quick championship game rematch.
“That’s probably the way it’ll end up,” Leath said.
Expansion remains a possibility, but not an immediate must, Leath said.
“We have a good league with 10 teams,” he said. “We’re getting $30 million a year in revenue distribution, and round-robin (scheduling) is fun, but if the right schools showed up, I’d be receptive.”
What comprises a good fit?
“They have to compete at a high level,” Leath said, “but it’s not to me just about performance of athletics.
“It has to be the kind of school that adds value to the league, an academically successful school that plays by the rules and gives everybody the right impression that this is a first-class league going forward.”
Regents president Bruce Rastetter said his group isn’t likely to get involved in the expansion issue.
“The Board of Regents didn’t get involved in the decision with the Big Ten and who they expanded with,” Rastetter told The Register. “I would expect we would not be involved in the discussions around Big 12 expansion. We look for president Leath to make the recommendation as to what Iowa State’s interests in that are, and we have full confidence in him doing that.”
http://www.desmoinesregister.com/story/sports/college/iowa-state/football/2016/06/09/iowa-state-president-steven-leath-big-12-realignment/85660904/
AMES, Ia. – Splitting up Big 12 Conference football into divisions based on seeding might be picking up a key vote.
Iowa State University president Steven Leath stopped short of an all-out endorsement, but he certainly didn’t say anything negative about the concept conference officials discussed at their spring meeting last week.
“The idea of re-seeding every year is intriguing,” Leath said during a break at Thursday’s Iowa Board of Regents meeting at Iowa State. “It differentiates us as a league. It keeps the league really vibrant, exciting and fresh.
“I think if we do that, other leagues will say “Wow, that’s a really neat idea.”
Big 12 Conference athletics directors voted on June 3 to stage a postseason conference championship football game, starting in 2017. It’s assumed the 10-team conference will split into two five-team divisions.
"The information we saw from our consultants was very compelling," commissioner Bob Bowlsby told reporters attending the meeting.
League officials were told that the College Football Playoff committee would look more favorably at the Big 12 if it had 13 games to evaluate, one more than the current 12.
Bowlsby didn’t say that means the league would automatically divide into two divisions, but that’s the way it appears headed.
While knee-jerk reaction among fans centered around the divisions being based on geography, a popular plan among conference officials was the seeding of teams according to the previous season’s standings.
In essence, that would mean placing teams finishing first, third, fifth, seventh, and ninth in one division, and the even-finishing teams in the other.
The divisions would change every year under that plan.
“(Re-seeding) is certainly creating a buzz right now,” Leath said. “The charge was to come up with the best format for the championship game.
“What the ADs were kicking around is the division idea, especially with the high likelihood that you wouldn’t play someone late in the season, and then play them for the championship.”
As long as it remains a 10-team league, Big 12 scheduling will continue to be round-robin. Football games against opponents in the opposite division will be played as early during the conference season as possible, in an effort to stay away from a potential quick championship game rematch.
“That’s probably the way it’ll end up,” Leath said.
Expansion remains a possibility, but not an immediate must, Leath said.
“We have a good league with 10 teams,” he said. “We’re getting $30 million a year in revenue distribution, and round-robin (scheduling) is fun, but if the right schools showed up, I’d be receptive.”
What comprises a good fit?
“They have to compete at a high level,” Leath said, “but it’s not to me just about performance of athletics.
“It has to be the kind of school that adds value to the league, an academically successful school that plays by the rules and gives everybody the right impression that this is a first-class league going forward.”
Regents president Bruce Rastetter said his group isn’t likely to get involved in the expansion issue.
“The Board of Regents didn’t get involved in the decision with the Big Ten and who they expanded with,” Rastetter told The Register. “I would expect we would not be involved in the discussions around Big 12 expansion. We look for president Leath to make the recommendation as to what Iowa State’s interests in that are, and we have full confidence in him doing that.”
