The Big 12 commissioner appeared on the Dan Patrick Show on Monday morning and told Patrick he would have voted Big 12 conference member TCU fourth in the College Football Playoff rankings over fellow member Baylor. Of course, Bowlsby’s comments sparked all sorts of controversy because while the teams were considered co-champions in the conference, Baylor beat TCU head-to-head.
The Bears also were ranked ahead of the Horned Frogs in the final College Football Playoff rankings.
"The only reason I say this is anything between our two schools — they had a better chance of staying in [the final four],” Bowlsby said. “It seemed like they were better positioned to have a chance to stay there.”
Both teams were left out of the four-team playoff. TCU, which was No. 3 in the playoff rankings heading into the final weekend, was jumped by both Florida State and Ohio State, which won their respective conference title games.
The Big 12 is a 10-member league and consequently doesn’t have a conference title game. Bowlsby admitted to ESPN on Sunday that his conference made a mistake by not having a conference championship, which wasn’t really a ringing endorsement for the league.
A week ago, Bowlsby talked himself in circles while trying to explain how the Big 12’s motto of “One True Champion” could still apply to co-champions.
Even Baylor coach Art Briles questioned the league’s credo after his team won its final regular season game and both his team and TCU finished 11-1.
The Big 12 was the only power conference left out of the inaugural playoff, which was somewhat stunning considering it had two teams ranked in the top 6 and one team that had been in the top 4 for a couple weeks.
It has not been a good couple of PR weeks for Bowlsby or the Big 12 and now it’s probably best to shut it down.
The Big 12 coaches, athletic directors and presidents will need to meet to discuss the next steps to insure a situation like this year’s playoff doesn’t happen again. Whether that means expanding to 12 teams or simply continuing to push for a waiver for a conference title game with 10 teams remains to be seen.
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Graham Watson is the editor of Dr. Saturday on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email her at dr.saturday@ymail.com or follow her on Twitter! Follow @YahooDrSaturday
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From Dr. Saturday - NCAAF - Yahoo Sports - Big 12 commissioner Bob Bowlsby says he would have voted TCU over Baylor
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