SAN FRANCISCO – The Pac-12 conference today announced a change in how teams are determined to qualify for the Pac-12 football championship game presented by 76.
Beginning in 2022, the two teams with the highest conference winning percentage will go head-to-head in championship play. This change would have resulted in a different Pac-12 Football Championship matchup in 5 of the last 11 years.
The measure passed with the unanimous support of the league’s top football coaches, sporting directors and board of directors.
The current Pac-12 conference football schedule, based on two divisions, remains in place for the 2022 season. Planning scenarios for seasons beyond 2022 will continue to be reviewed.
“Our goal is to place our top two teams in our Pac-12 football championship game, which we believe will provide our conference with the best opportunity to streamline 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 and media value of our football championship game.”
The NCAA Division I Council today approved the deregulation of the current rule, which had limited an individual conference’s autonomy in determining its participants in soccer championship games. The NCAA Football Oversight Committee had previously recommended this deregulation to the Division I Council based on a motion brought by the Pac-12 and unanimously supported by all FBS conferences.
|
Year |
Original FCG participants |
Participants under new system |
|---|---|---|
|
2011 |
#9 Oregon vs UCLA |
No. 4 Stanford vs. No. 9 Oregon |
|
2012 |
#8 Stanford vs #16 UCLA |
No. 5 Oregon vs. No. 8 Stanford |
|
2013 |
#7 Stanford vs. #11 Arizona St. |
No change |
|
2014 |
No. 2 Oregon vs. No. 7 Arizona |
No change |
|
2015 |
#7 Stanford vs. #20 USC |
No. 7 Stanford vs. No. 16 Oregon |
|
2016 |
No. 4 Washington vs. No. 9 Colorado |
No change |
|
2017 |
No. 10 USC vs. No. 12 Stanford |
No change |
|
2018 |
No. 11 Washington vs. No. 17 Utah |
#11 Washington vs. #13 Washington St. |
|
2019 |
No. 5 Utah vs. No. 13 Oregon |
No change |
|
2020 |
#13 USC vs. Washington** |
No. 13 USC vs. No. 25 Colorado |
|
2021 |
No. 10 Oregon vs. No. 17 Utah |
No change |
* CFP rankings used from 2014-21, BCS rankings used from 2011-13
** Washington failed to play FCG in 2020 and was replaced by Oregon as the runner-up team in the North Division.