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The last domino to fall in the “Big 12 expansion/championship game” debate-debacle is finally done. The Big 12 announced today that the league’s Football Championship game will be played at AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas from 2017-2021.
Big 12 title game will be held at AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas, from 2017-21
— Brett McMurphy (@McMurphyESPN) November 18, 2016
Big 12 title game will be played in Arlington 2017-21. FOX and ESPN will rotate airing it.
— Stewart Mandel (@slmandel) November 18, 2016
While Houston and Kansas City were also considered as hosting locations, the final decision to host it in Jerry-World is really not surprising. AT&T Stadium has a seating capacity of 80,000 that can be maximized to over 100,000 with standing room.
Since the league formed in 1996, there have been 15 championship games. Only the last two (2009, 2010) were played in AT&T Stadium, but was there ever any doubt that’s where they would be played moving forward?
We already knew the championship game would return for the 2017 season and that it would feature the top two teams in the conference. The league decided NOT to split into two 5-team divisions, so the championship game will match-up the top two teams in the conference standings.
It would be nice to see OSU playing a Big 12 championship game in the area that Jerry built.