The SEC announced on Friday an agreement with the Big 12 for their regular-season champions to meet in a bowl game if they are not a part of the anticipated playoffs beginning in 2014.
An industry source said the alliance between the two conferences will be similar to that of the Big Ten and Pac-12, whose champions meet annually in the Rose Bowl if they are not a part of the BCS championship game.
"The thinking is, the Big 12 and SEC, we're in the strongest positions right now. Let's create a big-time matchup," a source told CBSSports.com. "I don't know if other leagues will create matchups like this, but this is a way for the two leagues to develop [a partnership]."
If one or both of the league champions are selected to play in what is expected to be a four-team national championship playoff, another team would be selected for the Big 12-SEC matchup.
SEC commissioner Mike Slive says a new January bowl tradition has been born. Incoming Big 12 commissioner Bob Bowlsby says he's excited by the prospects for the game.
Specific details, including host sites, will be announced at a later date.
It is uncertain what this means for the Fiesta Bowl, which has hosted the Big 12 champion since the BCS began in 1998.
Why do the SEC and Big 12 want to do this? To protect each other and to increase the likelihood of a quality matchup. Under the BCS format, their champions were guaranteed a spot in a big game, but the opponent on the other side was uncertain.
There is currently an SEC/Big 12 matchup in the Cotton Bowl, which gets the No. 2 team from the Big 12 and the No. 4 or No. 5 pick from the SEC.
Which bowl will actually host this SEC/Big 12 matchup will be determined by a bidding process. The Sugar Bowl has hosted the SEC champion since 1976 and would be expected to stay in the No. 1 slot when the conference signs its new bowl contracts, which begin after the 2014 regular season.
"The idea is that it's a consistent location," a source said. "The Sugar Bowl is the No. 1 option. If you look at the power conferences, the Pac-12 and Big Ten are matched up. The rest of the conferences [outside the Rose Bowl] aren't really matched up."
Currently, the Capital One Bowl in Orlando selects after the Sugar Bowl is filled.
It has been clear for some time that the concept of automatic qualifiers for BCS bowls would go away in whatever new postseason format was created by college football commissioners. This SEC/Big 12 arrangement seems to confirm that conferences will strike their own deals with bowls. This matchup was discussed as long ago as two years, in case the Rose Bowl was a roadblock toward some sort of postseason model.
The hope for both sides is that this agreement will work like the Rose in that when the champions are part of the four team playoff, the bowl will be free to take the No. 2 teams from the SEC and Big 12.
