College football already had conference championship games on life support, but now the plug has officially been pulled.
The College Football Playoff Management Committee announced on Monday that the CFP will expand from 12 teams to 24 starting next season, which has been an expected move for months now. Shortly after that confirmation, the SEC announced that this year's conference championship game will be the last after a 35-year run. The Big Ten has also already eliminated its title game moving forward.
At 5-4 overall and 3-3 in conference play in the midst of their third season in the conference, the Oklahoma Sooners will never get the experience of going to Atlanta and playing in the SEC Championship Game. Conference titles were almost an annual tradition while in the Big 12 and somewhat helped fill the void of 26 years without a national championship, but the Sooners no longer have that stopgap.
Now, conference titles are just a means to get into the College Football Playoff.
CFP expansion puts end to conference championships, but shouldn't lower OU standards
Conference championship games wouldn't serve a purpose in the future, other than for bragging rights and another trophy. They've mostly just been an obstacle in the way for teams eyeing the CFP. The CFP will now likely kick off during the weekend that was previously reserved for conference title games.
Moving forward, the CFP will still have four automatic qualifiers for Power 4 conference champions, which include the ACC, Big Ten, Big 12, and SEC, but that title will be based on regular-season success during the conference slate. The new 24-team bracket will also include the highest-ranked Group of 6 conference champion and 19 at-large bids based on the final CFP rankings.
The top eight seeds will earn first-round byes, while seeds 9-16 will host first-round games on campus. Second-round games will also be hosted by the higher seed, meaning 16 of 23 playoff games will be played on campus. Every game from the quarterfinals on will be at a neutral site.
Conference titles and bowl streaks are now meaningless, so it's basically national title or bust for the Sooners. Qualifying for the CFP as a top-24 team should be the norm for OU football, just like how the OU basketball teams should be dancing in the NCAA Tournament on an annual basis.
Obviously, though, those expectations haven't been met by Porter Moser on the court, and Brent Venables' team also likely wouldn't make even a 24-team CFP this year unless the Sooners were able to sneak in after winning out. Venables has also never led the Sooners to a title in either conference he's coached in.
What can't happen is this change lowering the Sooners' standards. It's already felt like the standard has been lowered over the past decade, especially in the five years under Venables. Making the CFP can no longer be an accomplishment that earns a contract extension, but is simply a coach doing his job. If anything, OU's standards should grow as college football does.
Lincoln Riley built his OU legacy by picking on a weak Big 12 and winning conference title after conference title before ultimately losing in the first round of the CFP. That hardware and a few Heisman Trophy winners helped fill the void of going without a national title since 2000, but Venables no longer has that to fall back on.
Venables has to deal with a daunting SEC. There's no trophy or ring unless he's the best in the entire country. Winning a national title will be harder than ever in college football, having to win five massive games in a row, but Venables has to get with the times and not let the Sooners fall behind to maintain blue-blood status.
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