Rivalry week needs to return to the week of Thanksgiving for all teams in the B12 because it gives the majority of the conference members who are no longer in the title race something to look forward to and to cheer for.

The college football season really has three "seasons" in one because teams play OOC games for respect, in conference games for a conference title, and all games for bowl/CFP eligibility and national rankings. By the time the last game of the season rolls around, a third of your programs cannot even achieve bowl eligibility (see Houston, UCF, AZ, Oklahoma State, and...chuckle...Utah) and 80% of your programs are out of the hunt for a conference title game/CFP spot.

But 100% of teams could have the opportunity to beat their biggest in conference rival, which gives everyone something exciting to play for. Let's consider, for example, the difference between 4-7 Arizona versus 4-7 Utah this week. Arizona is going to face their hated rival ASU and Utah will be facing 4-7 UCF for the featured pillow fight of the week. It just makes more sense for teams to play rivals at season's end when everything else to play for may be gone.