For the past 2 years, the Big XII has pushed for deregulation, which will essentially allow it to host a conference championship game with only 10 schools. In somewhat of a shocking move, the SEC has voted to deny the Big XII it's desires. In order to win the vote, the Big XII's proposal must clear a majority of the 10 conferences. The big deal with the SEC is that P5 conferences hold double the vote, due to the NCAA's Autonomy process (It's shocking the SEC doesn't hold 100% of the vote with how important everyone thinks they are).
This is a very stupid vote. I don't think it should be on other conferences to decide how another conference regulates it's competition. It's our conference, not theirs. If we want to play a 9-team round robin with a championship game, we should be allowed to. If we want to divide up into divisions like the old Big XII, we should be able to. To an extent, I don't understand why the other conferences even have a vote.
Deregulation was a fiery topic in 2014 when it was assumed that the lack of a championship game kept Baylor/TCU out of the College Football Playoff. We pushed hard for it immediately, especially during the "One True Champion" fiasco and the confusion of what a head-to-head win meant. The Big XII offices promoted patience, and got ridiculed for it.
One year later, and the Big XII has a team in the College Football Playoff. Despite falling by three scores to Clemson, Oklahoma made it in. How they made it in is a true miracle, as of all the teams vying for a spot, they easily had the worst loss, to 5-7 Texas. This loss was worse than both Baylor and TCU's single regular season loss in 2014 combined.
Oklahoma didn't squeak into the playoffs. They deserved to be there. They were voted top 4 by nearly every major publication, and it's speculated that the only reason they had the #4 ranking was so that they wouldn't essentially play a home game against Alabama in the Cotton Bowl. I give you all this information because I've come at a conclusion: I don't think the Big XII needs deregulation, at least not yet.
As with everything, caution and patience is important in sports. If Oklahoma plays a conference championship game, there's a chance that they lose, and are therefore out of the playoff. Not having a conference championship game has it's benefits. We saw those benefits this year. I know why the vote has to happen, a conference championship game brings more money in for the conference. In the end, it's all about money. But on the field, I really think that the Big XII doesn't need deregulation.
