Written by Jon Solomon at CBSSports.com
The College Football Playoff breathed a huge sigh of relief Saturday. In reality, so did the Big 12.
Baylor lost.
No one with the CFP or Big 12 will ever say this. They cannot, nor should they. Despite the fallout still occurring from Baylor’s sexual assault scandal, the 2016 Bears should have always been judged as a playoff team by their on-field performance, which frankly wasn’t that good.
But Texas 35, Baylor 34 spares the CFP from the uncomfortable conversation, even though the Bears were never good enough to go undefeated. The Bears’ first lossspares the Big 12’s last playoff hope being its most scandalous athletic program. You better believe virtually no one in college football wanted to hear weekly CFP Rankings talk of Baylor while sexual assault stories keep coming out.
Thanks for playing, Big 12. See you in 2017 with your conference championship game and One True Division. Is it too late for the Big 12 to expand and add someone in November?
Coupled with West Virginia’s loss to Oklahoma State, the Big 12 is essentially out of the CFP for the second time in three years. Think about how down the Big 12 was to become a Power Five conference that’s knocked out of the playoff race before Halloween.
The Big 12 didn’t get eliminated in 2014 until selection day during the great Ohio State/TCU/Baylor debate. The Pac-12 got knocked out in 2015 on Nov. 14 whenStanford lost to Oregon and Utah got clipped by Arizona in double-overtime. The Big 12 was so down in 2016 that it’s irrelevant nationally for the final five weeks of the season.
Oklahoma resumes its traditional position as the Big 12 favorite. But with losses to Houston and Ohio State, both of which look shakier by the week, the Sooners can’t get into the playoff race given the quality of the Big 12.
Next year, the Big 12 will stick to no divisions when adding a championship game. The top two teams after a round-robin schedule will play for the title in a rematch.
To continue reading this article, click here.
