Big 12 title games produced outright champions, but could create ugly match-ups
Oklahoma won seven conference titles between 2000 and 2010, and played for an eighth when it lost the 2003 Big 12 title game to Kansas State.
Even without an official “championship game,” though, Oklahoma’s last two regular-season finales have been played with conference supremacy on the line.
Oklahoma lost 44-10 to Oklahoma State in the final week of last season, but could’ve earned a shared Big 12 title and Fiesta Bowl berth if it had won.
Saturday, the Sooners play at TCU and will claim at least a share of the conference championship with a victory.
All will have to await the Texas-Kansas State result Saturday night before knowing the full Big 12 picture; if KSU and OU both win — or both lose — the two will share the conference title, with the Wildcats heading to the Fiesta Bowl because of their head-to-head win.
If the Sooners win and Kansas State loses, Oklahoma is the outright conference champion.
Things were a lot less confusing when there was a conference title game.
“It’s tough,” OU coach Bob Stoops said. “It’s difficult and challenging with all the different teams.”
Even though the two-division format avoided shared championships, it could sometimes create very uneven title games.
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