The Oklahoma Sooners accomplished something no Big 12 team was able to in 2014: they punched their ticket to the College Football Playoff with a victory over arch-rival Oklahoma State Nov. 28.
The Big 12 wasn’t quite so lucky following last season’s final playoff rankings. The Baylor Bears and TCU Horned Frogs were left out, despite both teams finishing 11-1 overall, and were declared co-champions with identical 8-1 records in conference play. Between not having a true championship game, and the conference claiming both teams deserved to be in the four-team playoff, the selection committee did the only thing they felt was fair: leave them both out.
Shortly after 2014’s final rankings were released, Big 12 Commissioner Bob Bowlsby told ESPN the lack of a championship game probably hurt both teams’ chances of being considered, but it would have been nice to know that going in.
“We (got) the impression that we had a different model, but it wasn’t one that was going to penalize us, and I think it’s clear that it did,” Bowlsby said.
Imagine the relief Bowlsby must have felt after the latest playoff rankings were released Tuesday, listing the Sooners at No. 3. No more questions about why the conference has no championship game. No more in-fighting about which team should be the real champion. Everyone can relax and say no changes need to be made, right?
Not so fast. Each season is not guaranteed to produce the same result. Yes, the conference got lucky and escaped the possibility of another embarrassing co-championship scenario. But what if it happens again in 2016? It’s understandable conference officials don’t want to ruffle feathers by getting behind one team, but their indecisiveness cost them a playoff spot, and they can’t afford to have it happen again.
But until the decision makers come up with a better plan, every team in the conference can use the Sooners’ season as a model of how to get on the playoff selection committee’s radar.
Win down the stretch. Following their 24-17 loss to Texas Oct. 10, the Sooners won their last seven games. They outscored their opponents 364-136. Three of those wins came against teams in the Top 25 (No. 4 Baylor, No. 11 TCU, and No. 9 Oklahoma State).
When the initial playoff rankings came out Nov. 3, The Sooners were ranked 15th. Three other Big 12 schools were ahead of them: Baylor at No. 6, TCU at No. 8, and Oklahoma State at No. 14.
While Oklahoma was racking up wins in impressive fashion, the other Big 12 playoff hopefuls stumbled. Baylor lost two of their next four, including a 44-34 loss to the Sooners. TCU lost to both the Sooners and Cowboys, while Oklahoma State fell to Baylor and Oklahoma.
Lose at the right time. The Sooners’ only loss came three weeks before the first playoff rankings, so they had plenty of time to recover. Since the Big 12 plays a round robin type schedule, it was inevitable the Bears, Horned Frogs and Cowboys would beat up on each other, with their only hope hinging on another Oklahoma loss. It didn’t happen. TCU came the closest to knocking off the Sooners, fighting back from a 30-13 fourth quarter deficit to trail by a point with less than a minute left. But the Sooners’ Steven Parker batted away a two-point try that would have given the Horned Frogs a 31-30 upset win.
“The Oklahoma resume is deep with four top 25 victories in our current rankings, and then three other wins over teams with winning records,” selection committee chairman Jeff Long said in a teleconference following Tuesday’s rankings. “That, we believe, has factored into that Texas loss.”
Play a decent nonconference schedule. Oklahoma is 20th in the nation in strength of schedule. The Horned Frogs and Cowboys were 36th and 37th, respectively, while the Bears were 58th.
Oklahoma’s nonconference wins came over Akron, Tennessee, and Tulsa. TCU, No. 11 in this week’s playoff rankings, scored victories over Minnesota, Stephen F. Austin, and SMU. The No. 12 Bears beat up on SMU, Lamar and Rice.
Clearly, piling up points on sub-.500 or FCS schools isn’t the best way to stay in the playoff chase. The more wins over top 25 or solid teams, the better, especially if you want to impress the committee.
The Big 12 can be virtually assured of one team making college football’s Final Four, which is a better position than this time last year. But they still have work to do. Each team can help by winning when it counts, losing early, and playing a tougher schedule outside the conference. But a dilemma similar to last year’s regular season co-championship can easily happen again in the years to come. A championship game would go a long way to eliminating such embarrassment. Are you listening, Mr. Commissioner?