Art Briles says Baylor was 8-4 vote short of clinching spot in playoff

Baylor finished at No. 5 in the final College Football Playoff rankings, narrowly missing out on a playoff berth that went to Ohio State, the eventual national champions.

Just how close was Baylor from making it into the Playoff? Head coach Art Briles said Wednesday that it came down to an 8-4 vote from the 12-person selection committee with eight votes going to the Buckeyes and the other four going to the Bears.

Art Briles said Baylor was an 8-4 vote from earning the No. 4 spot in the recent CFP voting.

— Tim Griffin (@TimGriffinBig12) January 21, 2015

During availability, Art Briles said Baylor was short of fourth playoff spot on 8-4 selection committee vote. Declines to reveal source.

— Chuck Carlton (@ChuckCarltonDMN) January 21, 2015

We all know the scenario by now. Entering championship weekend, TCU was ranked third in the CFP rankings while Baylor was sixth and Ohio State was fifth. Ohio State dominated Wisconsin in the Big Ten Championship and moved up to No. 4 behind Florida State, which jumped from No. 4 to No. 3.

TCU (which dropped all the way to No. 6) and Baylor both won its games to clinch a share of the Big 12 title, but both were ultimately shut out of the four-team playoff.

Briles, whose team lost to Michigan State in the Cotton Bowl, is still clearly steaming a bit from how it all turned out. He seems to be among the crowd in favor of an eight-team playoff as well.

Briles not surprised with TOSU's success in four-team playoff, saying that of top 8 teams, "7 of them had a chance to win the championship."

— Tim Griffin (@TimGriffinBig12) January 21, 2015

Of course, if Baylor hadn’t lost to West Virginia it wouldn’t have been in that situation anyway. Regardless, Baylor has plenty of motivation headed into next season.

For more Baylor news, visit SicEmSports.com.

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Sam Cooper is a contributor for the Yahoo Sports blogs. Have a tip? Email him or follow him on Twitter!

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