Husker_Power
Starter
Ringo: Big 12 mulls changing North, South scheduling
Daily Camera
Big 12 athletic directors will discuss possible changes to the league`s current football scheduling model when they meet in New York in December and again at league meetings next spring.
One option has support from a small group of athletic directors from North Division schools, including Colorado athletic director Mike Bohn, but it hasn`t been presented to the full league yet.
Under the current scheduling system, Colorado faces Texas, Texas A&M and Oklahoma State this year, completing a two-year cycle of playing those teams home and away. It won`t face those opponents in the regular season again until 2012 because it begins a new two-year home-and-away cycle with Oklahoma, Baylor and Texas Tech next year.
The proposed change would be for teams never to go more than one year without facing each other in the regular season. Colorado would play Texas, Texas A&M and Oklahoma State this year and then play the other three South Division foes next season. In the third year, the Buffs would play Texas, Texas A&M and OSU again but at the opposite site from this season.
The league already has completed future schedules through the 2014 season and it`s likely any changes would not take effect until 2015. However, it`s possible changes could be instituted sooner if there was broad agreement for one option.
"We`re hopeful that we can find some models we can build some consensus around," Bohn said.
Multiple models are expected to be discussed, with the possibility that no changes will be made. Some have proposed in the past that historic rivalries should be played every year regardless of divisions. The most notable game fitting that description in the Big 12 is the Nebraska-Oklahoma game.
Those teams will meet this weekend in Lincoln, Neb. They used to play at or near the end of the regular season every year during the heyday of the old Big Eight Conference, but the rivalry has lost some of its luster since the Big 12 formed and adopted the current scheduling method.
"I think there is no question it's changed," OU coach Bob Stoops said Monday. "It's different. You think back in the old Big Eight days and for so many year it was Oklahoma and Nebraska at the top of the league and battling at the end of the season every year. There is no denying the difference now and that it just has changed and you don't play every year and you're not in the same division."
Other 12-team leagues have different scheduling models, which keep historical rivalries in place each year between teams from opposite divisions. Some teams from opposite divisions in the Atlantic Coast Conference and the Southeastern Conference can go as long as three seasons without playing each other. Clemson from the Atlantic Division in the ACC and North Carolina from the Coastal Division have played one time in the past six seasons since the ACC expanded to 12 teams.
Bohn said he supports playing most opponents within the division later in the season, which is the case under the current Big 12 model. But he also would like to see Texas and Oklahoma have to come to Boulder occasionally in November instead of always playing those teams at the start of conference play in late September or early October.
Daily Camera
Big 12 athletic directors will discuss possible changes to the league`s current football scheduling model when they meet in New York in December and again at league meetings next spring.
One option has support from a small group of athletic directors from North Division schools, including Colorado athletic director Mike Bohn, but it hasn`t been presented to the full league yet.
Under the current scheduling system, Colorado faces Texas, Texas A&M and Oklahoma State this year, completing a two-year cycle of playing those teams home and away. It won`t face those opponents in the regular season again until 2012 because it begins a new two-year home-and-away cycle with Oklahoma, Baylor and Texas Tech next year.
The proposed change would be for teams never to go more than one year without facing each other in the regular season. Colorado would play Texas, Texas A&M and Oklahoma State this year and then play the other three South Division foes next season. In the third year, the Buffs would play Texas, Texas A&M and OSU again but at the opposite site from this season.
The league already has completed future schedules through the 2014 season and it`s likely any changes would not take effect until 2015. However, it`s possible changes could be instituted sooner if there was broad agreement for one option.
"We`re hopeful that we can find some models we can build some consensus around," Bohn said.
Multiple models are expected to be discussed, with the possibility that no changes will be made. Some have proposed in the past that historic rivalries should be played every year regardless of divisions. The most notable game fitting that description in the Big 12 is the Nebraska-Oklahoma game.
Those teams will meet this weekend in Lincoln, Neb. They used to play at or near the end of the regular season every year during the heyday of the old Big Eight Conference, but the rivalry has lost some of its luster since the Big 12 formed and adopted the current scheduling method.
"I think there is no question it's changed," OU coach Bob Stoops said Monday. "It's different. You think back in the old Big Eight days and for so many year it was Oklahoma and Nebraska at the top of the league and battling at the end of the season every year. There is no denying the difference now and that it just has changed and you don't play every year and you're not in the same division."
Other 12-team leagues have different scheduling models, which keep historical rivalries in place each year between teams from opposite divisions. Some teams from opposite divisions in the Atlantic Coast Conference and the Southeastern Conference can go as long as three seasons without playing each other. Clemson from the Atlantic Division in the ACC and North Carolina from the Coastal Division have played one time in the past six seasons since the ACC expanded to 12 teams.
Bohn said he supports playing most opponents within the division later in the season, which is the case under the current Big 12 model. But he also would like to see Texas and Oklahoma have to come to Boulder occasionally in November instead of always playing those teams at the start of conference play in late September or early October.
Last edited by a moderator:
