The Big 12 needs a conference title game. In many cases the conference title game will be a play-in game. I fully support limiting it to 4 teams. Make sure these regular season head to head matchups mean something.
I think our defense is really good, so I could see an upset on Thanksgiving, but it's highly unlikely. Our defense struggles immensely with mobile quarterbacks that can't throw, so I imagine we will struggle even more against a mobile quarterback that can throw in Boykin. I could easily see a scenario where both teams are left out if Bama beats Miss St, however. If that happens and FSU/Oregon win out, they will all likely have more impressive resumes than both Baylor and TCU, unfortunately.
The concern about a playoff (or now, expanding to an 8-team playoff) diminishing regular season matchups is a bunch of garbage. Makes no sense to me whatsoever.
I feel like Bama beating Mississippi State is a bit more unlikely than people are expecting. What's the Vegas line? I'd login to my site but I'm ashamed to look at the lack of money in my account from losing this year.
MSU is a good team, but I personally would struggle betting against Saban at home in a game that basically determines if they make the playoff or not. I'm sure Vegas had more sophisticated thoughts when they opened the line, but it looks like the market agrees since the line has moved from 6.5 to 8.
I just don't see how Alabama can put up enough points and I certainly cant see them holding Mississippi State in check for long. They're explosive. I guess we'll see on Saturday.
It will be really interesting if the extra game that the SEC, Big 12, Pac 12 and ACC to determine their champion will come into play in the final rankings. If it does, that would give the Big 12 an incentive to add two teams to get back to a conference championship even though it would mean they would make less money per year. The lack of a championship game bothers me less now that other conferences are hitting 14 teams. A SEC West team only has 1 rotating game against a SEC East opponent. So there is a 1/6 chance that A&M plays Georgia in the regular season. That is a big difference than the old model where you played half of the other division in a given year. For instance, Missouri will only play A&M and Auburn from the SEC west which is basically a free pass past the best teams in the conference. You play every team, every year in the Big 12. That being said, I would have not complained if Baylor and Kansas St closed out the regular season and then met again the week after in a conference championship game.
This wouldn't surprise me at all. We all kind of get to this point in the season thinking we have things figured out, and it rarely plays out that way. At this point last year, Auburn was #7 in the country with 4 undefeated teams out there. I agree when we're talking about 4 teams - we can see it in the current debate and how losing a game may cost you dearly. But getting to 8, we're saying any 1 loss team should get in (and this year, probably some 2 loss teams) - at that point, you're basically giving everyone a mulligan. In that regard, I think it does start to diminish the regular season a bit. Florida State and MissSt, for example, would both be able to lose a game at this point and still easily make it into an 8 team playoff.
I don't see the need for a conference title game in a conference with no divisions, where every team plays every other team every single season. Conference championships are great in conferences where you rotate who you play...to make sure the 2 best teams in a conference at least play each other --or at least facilitate that happening. But that seems entirely unnecessary in a conference where you play everyone.
It will be interesting to see what Briles thoughts on head to head importance are now, especially after his 2008 ballot.
In 2008 (Michael Crabtree debacle season), he voted Oklahoma #1 and Texas #5, despite Texas' beating Oklahoma on a neutral site by double digits.
To be fair, in that situation, it was a 3-way tie, so no matter how you rank them, you're ranking one team behind a team it beat. If you flipped Texas and OU, then you'd have the same argument for Tech. The rankings (OU, Texas, Tech) for him match the results he saw playing each team. OU was up 28-0 in the 1st quarter at Baylor. Baylor got to 14-14 in the 2nd quarter @ Texas. And Baylor nearly (and should have) beaten Tech @ Tech.
Sure, I was just explaining what RocketFan007 was likely referencing. For the reasons you stated, Briles had a right to rank OU over Texas, but his actions seemed to be at least a little spiteful. Whatever, though. Old scars. Situations like those are part of what led to the playoffs (and this thread!).
The Houston Chronicle has Miss St. facing Marshall in the Peach Bowl. Holy smoke. If I were a Miss. St. fan I would have a fit. No way. From no. 1 to ending up in the Peach Bowl. Against national power house Marshall. I would rather sit home.
People are forgetting that the best non playoff big 12 and sec teams will play eachother in the sugar bowl. It's not actually at the sugar bowl this year bc of playoff rotations but I don't know what else to call it. That could be a great game.
