ESPN College Football

Posted by ESPN.com's Tim Griffin

Big 12 athletic directors have agreed to continue studying football tiebreakers rather than endorse the recommendation of the conference's coaches to approve continuation of the current rules.

During their annual spring meeting in Colorado Springs, the athletic directors had extensive discussion about all elements of the tiebreaker. And they agreed they needed more discussion, Big 12 commissioner Dan Beebe said.

"(The Big 12 athletic directors) determined that as a group it would like to continue to review the policies," Beebe said.  

That will mean no change is in place in the fifth of six tiebreakers, which catapulted Oklahoma into the Big 12 title game after a tie with Texas Tech and Texas.

Although Texas defeated Oklahoma and Oklahoma defeated Texas Tech, the Sooners had a .0128 edge over the Longhorns in the BCS rankings. The Sooners then claimed an unprecedented third-straight Big 12 title by beating Missouri in the Big 12 title game.

The athletic directors also spent considerable time on Wednesday discussing cost-cutting measures.

Beebe said among ideas that received the most support were the elimination of regional meets in track and field and the production of media and recruiting guides.

The regional meets are seen by many as unnecessary because the NCAA sets recruiting standards throughout the season. Beebe told the Boulder Daily Camera that the cost of an extra week of competition at some track powers could be as much as $100,000.

"We already have our track championships and have the times and our kids qualified and then we have to run off and spend thousands more dollars sending kids who are going to be in a regional situation just so less qualified youngsters get a chance to run against them," Beebe told the Camera. "We've already had those events. So it's a duplication in preparation for the NCAA and I think that is where we are unified."

The elimination of media guides has become a handy symbol of supposed excess for schools, although they still provide a necessary service for the media.

A bigger symbol might be the idea of staging league meetings at a swank resort like the Broadmoor in Colorado Springs. The current year is the final one in the conference's current deal with the Broadmoor.

"The athletics directors have planned to devote considerable time on Thursday to continue to discuss cost-containment issues," Beebe said after the meeting.

With all bowl contracts outside of the BCS expiring after the 2010 season, the conference received strong pitches from all of its current bowl partners. Beebe has said he hopes to have an announcement about new agreements by September.

"We reviewed all reports from the bowl games," Missouri athletic director Mike Alden said. "Direction was given to the Big 12 staff and conference bowl subcommittee on future negotiations."