Coaches seem to favor punting title game if season gets longer

By BLAIR KERKHOFF The Kansas City Star


If college football goes to a 12th game, which is expected, some Big
12 coaches want something in return.

No conference championship game.

"I'd like to see us do away with the title game if we're going to
have a 12th game," Texas coach Mack Brown said.

On this rare occasion, rivals Texas and Oklahoma see eye-to-eye.

"I'm all for a 12th game," Oklahoma coach Bob Stoops
said. "Providing we can drop the Big 12 title game."

And this from a coach who has won the game three times, more than
anybody in league history.

The Big 12 championship game has been part of the conference
landscape since its inception in 1996. The game usually plays to
sellout crowds, is one of the top-rated games of the regular season
and helps drive up the price for the league's television package
with ABC.

The game has been played in Kansas City three times, with another
set for 2006.

But it also means that in a 12-game season, at least two teams from
the Big 12 — the division winners — are going to play 14
games
because the winner has an automatic spot in a Bowl Championship
Series game and the loser is guaranteed a bowl spot providing it
owns a winning record.

That was the case in 2002 and 2003, the only years in which college
football permitted a 12th game. Oklahoma went 12-2 in 2002, and
Kansas State, because it played a preseason game, finished 11-4 in
2003.

The regular season returned to 11 games in 2004 and this season. But
legislation for a 12-game season, co-sponsored by the Big 12 and Big
East, passed an NCAA legislative hurdle last week and should pass
another one next week and take effect in 2006.

Coaches wouldn't mind if it failed.

"I see positives and negatives," Kansas' Mark Mangino said.
"It's a
longer playing season for the students, and we have to let them be
students. My personal opinion, 11 per season is fine, but if we play
12, it means we have a chance to get better."

Missouri coach Gary Pinkel said his team was surveyed, and 85-90
percent said they preferred a 12-game schedule to 11 games.

New Oklahoma State coach Mike Gundy said he would have preferred a
12th game when he was the Cowboys' quarterback in the late 1980s.

"When I played there weren't enough games," Gundy said.
"You only
get so many opportunities a year."

If the championship game went away, the league would have to find a
different way to crown its champion. It probably would have to scrap
the divisions and employ one 12-team standing.

The 11-team Big Ten and 10-team Pacific-10 use one standing. The
Southeastern Conference is a 12-team league with divisions. So is
the Atlantic Coast Conference this season, for the first time.

Other changes could be considered. The league will talk about
playing a ninth conference game. Currently, Big 12 teams play eight
league games, five against teams in the same division and three from
the other division.

"If the legislation is approved, it opens the door for that
discussion," Big 12 commissioner Kevin Weiberg said.

Coaches historically have voiced opposition to an additional league
game. Most likely, a 12th game for a Big 12 school would be a home
game against an underdog.

Texas' Brown would like to push for a fifth year of eligibility for
football players. Like all other athletes, they have five years to
play four.

Weiberg said all scheduling issues will be on the table during the
league's annual meetings next month.


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