Canzano: A hug, a book, and lessons for us all
DIVIDED NO MORE: The Pac-12 Conference currently has two divisions in football — North and South. They’re comprised of six teams each and the winner of the division gets a berth to the conference title game in Las Vegas.
The NCAA Football Oversight Committee recently recommended removing the requirements for a conference to have a championship game. It’s expected to pass later this month and would allow conferences to decide for themselves how to set up their title game and crown their champion.
Also, there’s the potential for the College Football Playoff itself to expand to 12 teams.
The prevailing sentiment is that the divisions will eventually be eliminated by the Pac-12. That could come as soon as the 2023 season,
per Jon Wilner. The conference desperately needs a playoff team. There’s a clear “invest in football” directive coming from conference headquarters. Beyond that, the conference is wise to think about the ways in which it might help itself with scheduling and strategy.
Removing the divisions could potentially avoid a mediocre team upsetting the conference favorite in the title game. More likely, though, what it would create is an opportunity for the team with the best record in the conference to have a shot to get one more quality win against a ranked opponent in front of the selection committee.
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