Ad Disclosure
Sorry, Baylor.
The Big 12 now requires that each of its schools play one Power 5 conference opponent (including Notre Dame) during the non-conference portion of its schedule in any given season.
The Big 12 became the fourth Power 5 conference to institute that rule after the SEC, ACC and Big Ten put it in place.
However, there’s one catch: Teams won’t be forced to break current contracts. For some teams such as Baylor, that means it won’t affect the school until 2019, so the actual timetable for the implementation of the rule is sketchy.
As of right now, the SEC and Big Ten count independents Army and BYU as power conference teams, while the ACC only counts BYU as one. However, according to ESPN’s Brett McMurphy, the Big 12 won’t count either.
Couple of Big 12 ADs said BYU & Army would count toward Big 12’s non-league Power 5 requirement but Big 12 spokesman says they do not
— Brett McMurphy (@Brett_McMurphy) December 8, 2015
This season, Baylor faced SMU, Lamar and Rice, continuing a trend of scheduling several lesser teams.
“Schedule strength is a key component in CFP Selection Committee deliberations,” Big 12 Commissioner Bob Bowlsby said. “This move will strengthen the resumes for all Big 12 teams. Coupled with the nine-game full round robin Conference schedule our teams play, it will not only benefit the teams at the top of our standings each season, but will impact the overall strength of the Conference.”
Born and raised in Gainesville, Talal joined SDS in 2015 after spending 2 years in Bristol as an ESPN researcher. Previously, Talal worked at The Gainesville Sun.
