Big 12 - North Division/South Division

[Autzen Powers]

After watching the Nebraska/Colorado game, I got to wondering about how this whole North/South Division thing works. Could someone explain to me how this works? Why is the conference split? Do they all play each other and how does it affect their bowl games?

[brady_44]

I think basically everything works the same. The teams in the North all play each other, and then usually play a couple teams from the South, and vice versa. I think the bowl games and everything work the same as the other conferences. They just have enough teams to divide it up and have their own championship to decide the BCS bid.

[Go-Pac]

NCAA rules stipulate that if you have 12 teams in your conference, you can hold a conference championship game. Once again, this is all about raising $$$ for the conference. Although, you can have a team like Texas run the table during the regular conference schedule and potentially lose to a scrub like Nebraska and thus Nebraska would be the conference champion. Not an ideal situation. The most logical way to hold a conference championship game is to split the league into 2 divisions of 6 teams. SEC has a West and East Division, ACC has a Coastal and Atlantic division. Holding a conference championship game was why the ACC raided the Big East and got Miami, BC, and Va Tech.

[Autzen Powers]

Originally Posted by Go-Pac

NCAA rules stipulate that if you have 12 teams in your conference, you can hold a conference championship game. Once again, this is all about raising $$$ for the conference. Although, you can have a team like Texas run the table during the regular conference schedule and potentially lose to a scrub like Nebraska and thus Nebraska would be the conference champion. Not an ideal situation. The most logical way to hold a conference championship game is to split the league into 2 divisions of 6 teams. SEC has a West and East Division, ACC has a Coastal and Atlantic division. Holding a conference championship game was why the ACC raided the Big East and got Miami, BC, and Va Tech.

So how is the conference championship paired up? The best team from the north vs. the best team in the south?

So, I guess another question is why would Oregon play Colorado if they went to the Holiday Bowl and not Texas A&M, who has a better record? Does Texas A&M get a better bowl? If so, what is it?

[Go-Pac]

The first place team from each division plays in the conference championship game. The third place team from the Big 12, the entire conference, is slated to go to the Holiday Bowl. Colorado was the third place team behind Texas and Texas Tech. Since Colorado lost to Nebraska, I think Nebrask would be the third place team. Texas Tech is the second place team in the conference, but they are in the same division as Texas, so they will not be able to play in the conference championship game.

[fd44]

Every team in the North Division plays each other and plays 3 teams from the other division. The team with the best conference record in the North and the best conferece record in the South plays in the conference championship game. This works the same way for the SEC, ACC, MAC.

[Go-Pac]

Correct

[Autzen Powers]

so if I got this right, the first team gets an automatic BCS berth, and the third place goes to the holiday bowl, correct? Where does the second place team go?