Pac-12 changing up championship format for football starting in 2022

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The Pac-12 is switching things up for its championship format for football beginning this year.

The conference announced Wednesday that the two teams with the highest Pac-12 winning percentage will square off in the championship game.

The new format was passed unanimously by the conference’s head football coaches, athletic directors and board of directors.

“Our goal is to place our two best teams in our Pac-12 Football Championship Game, which we believe will provide our conference with the best opportunity to optimize CFP invitations and ultimately win national championships,” Pac-12 commissioner George Kliavkoff said in a press release.

“Today’s decision is an important step towards that goal and immediately increases both fan interest in, and the media value of, our Football Championship Game.”

Despite the change, this season’s Pac-12 schedule between the two divisions will remain in place.

According to the conference, the change from pitting the two Pac-12 division winners against one another would have resulted in different championship matchups in five of the last 11 seasons.

“The NCAA Division I Council approved today the deregulation of the current rule that had limited an individual conference’s autonomy to determine their football championship game participants,” the Pac-12 said.

“Based on a motion brought by the Pac-12 and unanimously supported by all FBS conferences, the NCAA’s Football Oversight Committee previously recommended this deregulation to the Division I Council.”

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