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As Bedlam decides Big 12, the 2017 rebirth of title game could mean a quick rematch

The Big 12 is fortunate that its conference championship is being decided head-to-head on the last week of the season.

As the only Power Five conference without a title game, the Big 12 schedules regular season games on championship weekend. And, as luck may have it, No. 9 Oklahoma and No. 10 Oklahoma State face each other with the conference title on the line on Saturday.

If this was 2017, OU and OSU may be facing each other in back-to-back weeks to decide the championship.

If the Big 12 had a true title game in 2016, the Oklahoma schools would play twice in two weeks. (Getty)
If the Big 12 had a true title game in 2016, the Oklahoma schools would play twice in two weeks. (Getty)

After the NCAA repealed the 12-team minimum for a conference championship, the Big 12 is bringing back a championship game for next season. With the Big 12’s round-robin schedule format, a rematch in the conference title game is unavoidable.

And if the title game was in effect this year — and the Bedlam rivalry was played a week earlier — Oklahoma and Oklahoma State would be playing each other on consecutive weeks. Ending the regular season with a glorified scrimmage to prep for the title game doesn’t seem ideal.

“You tell me who’s going to be at the top of the standings,” Big 12 commissioner Bob Bowlsby told the Dallas Morning News, “and I’ll tell you how to avoid it.”

The Big 12 could have avoided the back-to-back scenario if it had gone to divisions for the 2017 season. Teams could play all out-of-division games at the beginning of the season, leaving at least a month between a potential regular season game and title game rematch.

But a division format isn’t flawless. Geography isn’t in the conference’s competitive balance favor. And it could mean, similar to what’s going on in the Big Ten this season, that the two best teams in the conference wouldn’t be playing each other in a title game.

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Rivalry games could be moved. Instead of playing Bedlam at the end of the season, it could be played in September along with games such as Texas vs. TCU and Baylor vs. Texas Tech. But that’s not foolproof either. Not everyone can play Kansas and Iowa State on the final weekend of the regular season.

And if Bedlam didn’t have such high stakes Saturday, another game likely would. Halfway through the regular season both Baylor and West Virginia were 6-0 and the only two undefeated teams in the conference. The Bears and Mountaineers play each other on Saturday. The odds are very good the Big 12’s title game will feature a sequel to a game played weeks, rather than months, earlier.

The title game will add more money to the Big 12’s coffers and could provide a vital 13th game for its champion. But given that the Big 12 will miss out on the College Football Playoff twice in the first three years, it’ll be the conference’s luck that an undefeated regular-season champion loses in the title game to a three-loss team.

The Big 12 is never boring.

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Nick Bromberg is the assistant editor of Dr. Saturday on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at nickbromberg@yahoo.com or follow him on Twitter!