The Big 12 Should Stay Away From Conference Title Game Trap
Posted
Mark Howe-mhowe@timesuniononline.com
How in the world can the Big 12 even think of adding two members, just to get a conference championship football game? Or asking for a waiver from the rule requiring a conference have 12 teams, two divisions and a round-robin format to stage such an event? Frankly, the only compelling reason to add one has nothing to do with making the playoffs; it’d be all about money. When the conference did have a game, three times (1996, 1998, 2003) a team was knocked from consideration for the BCS title contest. One could argue none of those teams would have won the national title, but we’ll never really know for sure. Imagine if Missouri, Arizona and/or Georgia Tech had won over the weekend. That would have been interesting, to say the least. As much as it pains me to say so, as I am a Big 12 fan, the selection committee got it right. And the way it turned out, there was nothing Baylor or Texas Christian, the teams frozen out of the playoff party, could do about it. It was widely speculated Ohio State would need an impressive win to get in, and they did it. They had to do it with third-string quarterback Cardale Jones. They had to do it after burying teammate Kosta Karageorge. They had to do it against Wisconsin, who has the top defense in the Big 10. And they had to do it when even the most ardent Buckeye supporters had to have some inkling of doubt. And they did. Baylor and TCU did everything they were supposed to do; the Bears topped a top-10 ranked Kansas State team, while the Horned Frogs slobberknocked Iowa State. I argued when the playoff system was announced that four teams isn’t enough. The other divisions in the NCAA take 16. That number would indeed wreak havoc with the bowl system in place, but there’s too many of those anyway. Now, are there 16 Football Bowl Subdivision teams that have a legitimate shot at a winning the national title? No more so than there are 68 teams who could win it all in men’s basketball, or to a greater degree 64 teams in the women’s game. But in 2014 there are at least six, and there’s an argument for minimally two more teams from the Southeastern Conference’s west division. The committee was mandated to start over with its ratings every week, and by putting Ohio State in the playoffs, the group proved it can follow instructions. Right now, Ohio State is among the four best teams in the country. And for all its efforts, there’s nothing the Big 12 could do about it. Neither breaking the tie by naming an outright champion, nor hosting a conference title game, changes the outcome in this particular set of extraordinary circumstances. Other thoughts in my little sports world... Are SEC football teams smart to put non-conference “tune-up” games at the end of the season? Even with the new playoff system, it seems to remain better to lose at the beginning of the year than it does in November. Has there ever been a No. 1 men’s basketball team that has a defense like Kentucky has right now? When (not “if”) the Wildcats get its offense figured out, March Madness will be reduced to who else could make the Final Four. As a baseball fan, this might be my favorite week of the off-season that doesn’t include a desperate countdown to Opening Day. Major League Baseball’s Winter Meetings are this week in San Diego. To me, it’s the transition between seasons and makes the winter seem a little shorter. That is, until someone signs with the Yankees for a zillion bucks over five years.
