The conference championship games were always stupid and should obviously be abolished in light of the way they now generate less revenue than the playoff games and create unnecessary complications for the College Football Playoff. Here is the correct way to determine a college football conference championship in these days of large conferences where all the teams can’t play each other every season.
- Conference championships are determined by the conference records.
- If two or more teams are tied with the same conference record, the team with the better overall record shall prevail.
- If two or more teams are tied with the same conference record and overall record, the head-to-head winner shall prevail.
- If two or more teams are tied with the same conference record and overall record and they did not play that season, or the result of the head-to-head game was a tie, the team that has gone longer since last winning the conference championship shall be declared the conference champion.
- If two or more teams are tied with the same conference record and overall record and they did not play that season, or the result of the head-to-head game was a tie, and one of the teams joined the conference from a different conference since 2020, the “last conference championship” calculation shall be based on its most recent championship in its previous conference.
In other words, if Minnesota and Washington were to finish in a tie for the Big 10 conference championship next year, Minnesota would be crowned the conference champion since its last conference championship was in 1960, while Washington’s last conference championship was in 2023.
That’s fair, reasonable, and most importantly, respectful of tradition and good for the sport. Look at how the entire country is excited about seeing Indiana being in the Big 10 mix for a change instead of Michigan. And look at how much everyone enjoys seeing new teams in the mix instead of the same six teams taking turns winning the national championship.
This will also permit the CFB to guarantee more spots to conference champions, which is desirable. I’d prefer to see 8 being reserved for conference champions, with 8 at-large invites. March Madness proves that everyone likes to see a dark horse or two included.