Pac-12 Announces Change to Championship Game Format

The Pac-12 announced the two teams with the highest winning percentage will meet in the title game.

Donnie Druin | May 18, 2022

Pac-12 Announces Change to Championship Game Format /

The Pac-12 announced Wednesday a new format for deciding who will play in their championship game.

Previously, the winners of each respective division would meet to decide the conference's title. Now, changes are being made to allow for any two teams to meet regardless of division alignment.

"The Pac-12 conference today announced a change to how it will determine the teams that qualify for the Pac-12 Football Championship Game. Starting in 2022, the two teams with the highest conference winning percentage will face off in the championship game. This change would have resulted in a different Pac-12 Football Championship matchup in five of the past 11 years," said the Pac-12 in a press release.

The release mentions the measure passed with "unanimous support" from Pac-12 head football coaches, athletics directors and board of directors.

The current Pac-12 conference football schedule, based upon two divisions (North and South), will remain in place for the 2022 season. Scheduling scenarios for seasons beyond 2022 will continue to be reviewed.

“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,” said Pac-12 commissioner George Kliavkoff. “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.”

Here's how prior title games would have been impacted with the recent rule change.