Actually the current bylaws don't state a minimum number of required
teams in order for a conference to hold a conference championship game in football. All the bylaws state is that if a conference wants to play a conference championship game in football, then it has 2 options to meet the minimum requirement.
17.11.5.2 Annual Exemptions. [FBS/FCS]
17.11.5.2.1 Bowl Subdivision. [FBS] In bowl subdivision football, the maximum number of football contests shall exclude the following: (Revised: 1/10/90, 11/1/07 effective 8/1/08, 10/28/10, 10/27/11 effective 4/1/12, Adopted: 8/2/12 effective 8/1/14, 1/15/16 effective 8/1/16)
(b) Conference Championship Game. One conference championship game:
(1) Between division champions of a conference that is divided into two divisions (as equally balanced in number as possible) and conducts round-robin, regular-season competition in each division; or
(2) Between the top two teams in the conference standings following full round-robin regular-season competition among all members of the conference.
Now something interesting I discovered is that bylaws currently have a minimum number of teams requirement for DI-FCS in order to play a conference championship game.
17.11.5.2.2 Championship Subdivision. [FCS] In championship subdivision football, the maximum number of football contests shall exclude the following: (Revised: 1/10/90, Adopted: 1/10/91, 1/19/92, 1/16/93 effective 8/1/93, 1/13/98 effective 8/1/98, 2/16/00, 12/15/06, 10/28/10, 6/8/15)
(c) Twelve-Member Conference Championship Game. A conference championship game between division champions of a member conference of 12 or more institutions that is divided into two divisions (of six or more institutions each), each of which conducts round-robin, regular-season competition among the members of that division;
The reason I find this interesting is because the SWAC currently only has 10 members in football. The conference decided to divided the members into 2 divisions of 5 and play a round robin schedule (9 games) so it could play a conference championship game instead of participating in the NCAA DI Playoffs. Technically the SWAC is in violation of the bylaws because it doesn't have 12 members according to the rules for DI-FCS. Now the SWAC is compliant with the rules DI-FBS, but that should be a moot point since the conference currently competes in DI-FCS subdivision for football.
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In response to this post by mrcaniac)
Link: NCAA DI Manual 2021-22
Posted: 10/21/2021 at 08:58AM