Big 12 Missing the CFP

[fastlax16]

Interesting scenario to chew on.

Army wins out, beating ND and Tulane in the CCG.
Boise wins out.
BYU drops to ASU this weekend and Colorado drops 1 of its last 2 you're guaranteed a 2 or 3 loss Big 12 champ depending how tiebreakers shake out. Let's say Colorado drops to KU but wins the conference title. You have Colorado with losses to Nebraska, K-State and either Kansas or OK State. Is that team ranked ahead of 13-0 Army? What if ASU wins out and wins the big 12 with losses to Cincinnati and Texas Tech?

Rules state the 5 highest ranked conference champs are in, not the p4 champs plus a g5 or whatever its called now.

 

[LandoComando]

Interesting scenario to chew on.

Army wins out, beating ND and Tulane in the CCG.
Boise wins out.
BYU drops to ASU this weekend and Colorado drops 1 of its last 2 you're guaranteed a 2 or 3 loss Big 12 champ depending how tiebreakers shake out. Let's say Colorado drops to KU but wins the conference title. You have Colorado with losses to Nebraska, K-State and either Kansas or OK State. Is that team ranked ahead of 13-0 Army? What if ASU wins out and wins the big 12 with losses to Cincinnati and Texas Tech?

Rules state the 5 highest ranked conference champs are in, not the p4 champs plus a g5 or whatever its called now.

I mean, that would be fun to see happen--doubt it will but bring on the chaos

 

[doctornick]

Wrinkle: Army actually doesn't finish their season until the week after the CCG and CFP announcement - they could in theory win out and be picked for the CFP then lose to Navy.

 

[fastlax16]

Wrinkle: Army actually doesn't finish their season until the week after the CCG and CFP announcement - they could in theory win out and be picked for the CFP then lose to Navy.

That makes perfect sense.

 

[sss]

The committee would take care of this and make sure the Big12 champ/ND is ahead of Army. The eye test would factor heavily. Nobody is upsetting the cash apple cart.

 

[heckmans]

The committee would take care of this and make sure the Big12 champ/ND is ahead of Army. The eye test would factor heavily. Nobody is upsetting the cash apple cart.

Are you saying that BYU would bring more interest in the CFP than Army?

 

[LandoComando]

The committee would take care of this and make sure the Big12 champ/ND is ahead of Army. The eye test would factor heavily. Nobody is upsetting the cash apple cart.

The Big XII isn't part of the "cash apple cart"

 

[sss]

Yes, the Big12 and ND have more fans than Army. And yes, not having the Big12, ACC champ, or 4 teams from the Big10/SEC could upset the cash apple cart.

 

[LandoComando]

Yes, the Big12 and ND have more fans than Army. And yes, not having the Big12, ACC champ, or 4 teams from the Big10/SEC could upset the cash apple cart.

So what card does the Big Xii or ACC have?

 

[fastlax16]

The committee would take care of this and make sure the Big12 champ/ND is ahead of Army. The eye test would factor heavily. Nobody is upsetting the cash apple cart.

This wasn't about ND since they're ineligible to grab one of the 5 conf champ slots, but that said while the committee can make up a lot of crap to justify its actions but it isn't going to be able to rationalize 10-2 ND with a loss to NIU ahead of an undefeated Army team that beat them 2 or 3 weeks prior if it comes down to it. F*ing over a service academy may also be a look they want to avoid.

 

[heckmans]

Yes, the Big12 and ND have more fans than Army. And yes, not having the Big12, ACC champ, or 4 teams from the Big10/SEC could upset the cash apple cart.

You think the average Big12 fan cares about BYU? I think there are more ppl around the country(including Big13 fans) that would be interested to see a service academy in the playoff over BYU.

The Big12 is now a slightly larger version of the MWC

 

[Cowbell Man]

The committee would take care of this and make sure the Big12 champ/ND is ahead of Army. The eye test would factor heavily. Nobody is upsetting the cash apple cart.

Zero chance an undefeated Army is behind those two. Army will have a big a$$ Power win over ND and Army in the playoffs will most certainly be a cash win. Who isn’t watching THAT game?? They will also be ahead of Boise who has a nice loss but not the win Army would have.

 

[84Lion]

The Big12 is now a slightly larger version of the MWC

This. The Big 12 is now essentially a motley crew, a collection of "leftovers" without any really "big name" schools. Colorado and West Virginia might be considered "flagship" schools, and the Kansas and Arizona schools "flagships," but none of these really move the needle name-wise.

Worse, the Big 12 has a TV deal that matches their identity. It's split between Fox and ESPN with some future games on TNT and TBS. ESPN has plenty of content with the SEC and ACC (actually a shrewd combination as the ACC game can serve as cannon fodder in the noon slot to avoid direct competition with Fox "Big Noon" while SEC games can compete in the 3:30 slot and dominate in the evening slot), and Fox has the B1G and can cherry-pick a few prime (especially Colorado ) Big 12 games if they need content. Fox only has FS1 as a cable presence (FS2 is a smaller, almost online-only streaming presence). The bottom line is that the Big 12 doesn't have anyone to advocate for them, not ESPN/ABC or Fox.

I think the bottom line going forward is that the Big 12 is going to be marginalized as a "power conference." The ACC isn't far behind. The B1G and SEC have the flagship schools. They can pick and choose what schools they want to add, if any, and will just keep getting stronger.