Big 12 football conference championship tiebreaker rules in 2024, explained

The Big 12 Conference looks a little different this year, 16 teams in total, after chaotic conference realignment nationwide with the additions of Arizona, Arizona State, Colorado and Utah this year.

But of course, teams can’t play everyone in the conference in a single season, and that opens the door to possible ties in the Big 12 standings at the end of the regular season, complicating how the two teams in the conference championship game are determined. . While conference titles alone are important, there are also implications for the College Football Playoff because the four highest-ranked conference champions receive the top seed and first-round byes.

Here’s a look at the Big 12 football tiebreaker rules in 2024, should we need them.

Big 12 football championship tiebreaker rules in 2024

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The 2024 Big 12 Football Championship Game is set for Saturday, Dec. 7 at noon ET at AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas, and the conference’s top-2 teams will play. But if there is a tie, how will the Big 12 break it to decide which teams will play for a conference title?

If there is a two-team tie in the Big 12 standings at the end of the regular season, the conference will look to these factors to break it, according to Big 12 tiebreaker rules:

1. Mutual competition between the two equal teams

2. Winning percentage against all regular conference opponents among tied teams

3. Winning percentage against the second-highest ranked common opponent in the standings (based on the record in all games played in the conference), continuing through the standings. When arriving at a different group of tied teams, while comparing records, use each team’s winning percentage against the collective tied teams as a group (prior to that group’s own tie procedure) instead of the performance against individual tied teams

4. Combined winning percentage in conference play for conference opponents (i.e. strength of conference schedule)

5. Total number of wins in a 12 game season. The following conditions will apply to the calculation of the total number of victories: Only one victory against a team from the NCAA FCS or lower division will be counted annually. All games exempt from counting toward the annual maximum number of football contests per NCAA rules

6. Highest ranking by SportSource Analytics (team rating score metric) after the final weekend of regular season games

7. Coin toss

If there is a two-way tie for first and the tied teams have previously played each other, the winner of that game is the top seed. If the tied teams have not previously played each other, the two-way tiebreaker rules apply.

If multiple teams are tied in the Big 12 at the end of the regular season, the conference will consider the following factors to determine the individual tiebreaker winner. However, if there is still a multi-team tie after the first team is selected from the tiebreaker, the Big 12 will use those factors to break the tie, and when two teams are tied, the two-team tiebreak rules apply.

1. The records of the three (or more) tied teams will be compared based on the winning percentage in matches among the tied teams:

1A. If all teams involved in the tie did not play each other, but one team defeated all other teams involved in the tie, the team that defeated all other teams in the tie is removed from the tiebreaker and the remaining teams return to the beginning of the applicable tiebreaker- process (ie two teams or three or more teams tied)

1B. If all teams involved in the tie did not play each other and no team defeated all other teams involved in the tie, go to the next step in the tiebreaker

2. The records of the three (or more) tied teams will be compared based on winning percentage against all common conference opponents played by all other teams involved in the tie

3. Recording of the three (or more) tied teams against the second highest ranked common opponent in the standings (based on the record in all games played in the conference) continues through the standings. When arriving at a different group of tied teams, while comparing records, use each team’s winning percentage against the collective tied teams as a group (prior to that group’s own tie procedure) instead of the performance against individual tied teams

4. Record of the three (or more) teams tied based on combined winning percentage in conference play for conference opponents (ie strength of conference schedule)

5. Total number of wins in a 12 game season. The following conditions will apply to the calculation of the total number of victories: Only one victory against a team from the NCAA FCS or lower division will be counted annually. All games exempt from counting toward the annual maximum number of football contests per NCAA rules

6. Highest ranking by SportSource Analytics (team rating score metric) after the final weekend of regular season games

7. Coin toss