Logistically this makes sense, but it really does make the Big 12 look like a step below the other Power 5 conferences.
On Tuesday, FOX — who will broadcast the Big 12 Championship Game — announced that the game would kickoff at 12:30PM ET... which is 11:30AM local time.
FOX's primetime spot on Championship Saturday was already taken up by the Big Ten Championship Game, which is slated to kickoff at 8:00PM ET. Among other logical spots for the Big 12, they would have to compete with the SEC Championship Game on CBS at 4:00PM ET, and likely the ACC Championship Game in primetime on ABC. In terms of ratings, holding the game before all of the others makes sense, but it really does make the Big 12 look lesser in comparison to the other conferences that they would have to schedule their game in such a way.
Also, even if the motive here is to not compete with the other major title games, could they not have given the game a 1:00PM or 1:30PM ET start? At least then it gets the start time past noon for those attending the game, and it still competes minimally with the other games.
The Big 12 title game will be held on Dec. 2 in AT&T Stadium.
