I realize and understand there is a ton of arguments that can go either way in this three way battle. Just keep in mind what you can argue for one you can also argue for one of the other two.
A lot has been talked about head to head in the this huge debate between OU and Texas. Remember there is a third team involved and that is Texas Tech. Many fans, coaches, and media eliminate Tech because of their huge loss to OU. So therefore, since they are so called eliminated then people want to talk head to head. If OU doesn’t dominate Tech, are they still in the equation? Sure they are but they should still be in the discussion right now. So OU is being punished for dominating Tech. Fans, media and coaches appear to be forgetting that Tech beat Texas and to be honest with you Tech dominated that game for 3 quarters, not that they won in the last second like everyone wants to remember. Texas had the lead in that game for 1:28. Sounds a bit different than “losing in the last second.”
The BCS was the last tie breaker for the decision on who got to go to the Big 12 Championship. It’s a bit funny how a ton of fans and media dislike the BCS for determining this result. The same people prefer the ACC and SEC methods instead. I guess they prefer this method because it is a different outcome but the big contradiction is they use the BCS to determine this as well.
Look at the coaches poll the last 2 weeks. Keep in mind no one in the top 10 lost this week. OU loses 15 votes for beating #12 Oklahoma St 61-41 on the road. Florida lost 16 votes for beating #20 Florida St on the road. Now look at the gains. Alabama understandably gained 3 points for shutting out Auburn. Texas gained 26 votes for beating a 4-7 Texas A&M at home 49-9. USC gained 10 votes for dominating Notre Dame(I can see 10 votes as good as they looked). PSU gained 19 points for playing no one? Utah stayed the same as they should for not playing. Texas Tech gained a whopping 43 points for beating Baylor by 7 at home and they had to come from behind to do so. Granted Crabtree did not play the whole game and Harrell was shook up but to gain that many votes? Boise State gained 11 votes for finishing their season undefeated and Ohio State gained 5 votes for playing no one. I realize any coach can change their minds week in and week out but this is absurd. I realize there has been a ton of politicking by some coaches but the movement for the teams that did not play or barely beat an under 500 team at home is crazy. You can tell some coaches had some agenda. This is a perfect example why all polls should be public knowledge week in and week out.
Brent Musburger mentioned during the OU-Oklahoma St game that rather than use the BCS the Big 12 should use point differential amongst all the common teams they played in conference. While I agree, he changed his tune on ESPN the next day and wanted to use point differential to get it down to 2 teams and then head to head. This was just another way to eliminate OU. Here is an issue with this new theory. OU would be punished for dominating Texas Tech. Here’s why. Here is the point differential against the Big12 South and Kansas being all three played Kansas.
OU 138
Texas 100
Tech 65
Lets say OU only beat Tech by 9 instead of 44. Then it would look like this.
OU 103
Texas 100
Tech 100.
OU still wins the differential but now Texas and Tech are tied. So again OU is would be punished in this scenario for dominating Tech. In addition, how many teams would be comfortable with only having a 9 point lead with Tech. This would also make it to where teams are not just playing football and trying to manage the number of points scored.
Couple of things that worked in OU’s favor in all this. Although unfortunate here me out and you can see why. The weekend OU lost to Texas, number #2 Missouri and #3 LSU lost as well. This vaulted Texas past #4 Alabama and only dropped OU to #6 being the others lost behind them as well. Unfortunately when Texas lost no one else behind them lost and they fell to #7. That same week OU moved to #4. As the weeks went by both Texas and OU kept moving up and OU’s destroying Tech vaulted them up higher. Now the next week we saw the agenda work and put Texas within 1 point of OU. As you can see, although not always fair, sometimes when you lose makes a difference. It just so happens that those 2 other teams lost the same week as OU and Texas did not have that luck.
Bottom line in all this is that there are 3 teams that are very deserving of going to the Big 12 Championship, unfortunately only 1 can go. All have valid arguments and each argument can go in a circle. While I can look at all sides it is very hard to come up with a solid argument for anyone of the 3.
The bigger injustice is that there is three teams that should be going to a BCS game for the second year in a row yet only two can go. The one main thing that I think needs to be changed is to make all the votes public all year long so anyone and everyone can see any hidden agendas and trying to manipulate the BCS.
Showing posts with label Texas Tech. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Texas Tech. Show all posts
Tuesday, December 2, 2008
Friday, November 28, 2008
Big 12 South and the BCS
There has been a lot of disputing over the Big 12 South and BCS games over the last couple of weeks, and if OU and Texas Tech win there games on Saturday there will likely be even more.
First of all, with the three teams involved there are arguments for each team on why they should be where they are ranked and who should go to Kansas City to play the Big 12 Championship and also possibly the National Championship. We all know Texas beat OU on a neutral field, Tech beat Texas at Lubbock, and OU crushed Tech in Norman. All three will be tied at 7-1 in the conference. The majority of Texas fans will argue that they should get the nod because of beating OU head to head on a neutral field. Why is it they do not figure Tech into the equation? OU fans say they slaughtered the team that beat Texas and they are playing the best football right now. I have yet to hear any comments on why Tech should get in the game. I know, I know, they got crushed by OU so they are out of the argument. Some will say being they are out of the argument then you have to talk head to head. You cannot rationalize this theory because of three teams being tied with identical records and they all beat each other. If a fan says Tech is out of the equation because of there huge loss to OU, Texas may have won the head to head with OU, but the team that Texas lost to was beaten soundly by OU. Sounds like to me the huge win OU had over Tech actually hurt OU because fans and pollsters eliminate Tech from the equation?
Now a few points to remember about the three games. The Texas-OU game was a very good and closer game than most will admit being the score was 45-35. The Texas- Tech game was pretty much one sided up until the last quarter, although most only remember Tech winning the game with one second left. Remember that Texas only had the lead for a little more than a minute in that game. The OU-Tech game was a total domination by the Sooners from beginning until the end.
Couple of other points to consider. If Texas would have lost to A&M yesterday, do you rank OU ahead of Tech being OU beat Tech? Yes because of the head to head. If Tech was to lose to Baylor on Saturday, do you rank Texas ahead of OU? Yes because of the head to head. If OU was to lose to Oklahoma State on Saturday, do you rank Tech ahead of Texas. Yes because of the head to head, yet that will more than likely not be the case because of where they are ranked right now. Tech might get close if they were to beat Missouri in the Big 12 Championship game. The opponents they have faced will be the same. But will voters remember they beat Texas?
So as you can see what you can argue for one you can argue for another. I have yet to hear an argument for any of the teams that solidifies who should be ranked where. Head to head cannot be a part of the equation when there are three teams involved. My last question is if Tech is out of the equation because of there lopsided loss to OU, would this not make OU a frontrunner instead of trying to spin it to head to head with Texas? Lets see what shakes out with the OU-OSU and Tech- Baylor games and then we can make an argument. Also if Florida and/or Alabama were to lose this weekend and/or the loser beat the winner in the SEC Championship, who knows you may see a rematch from that game in Dallas to be in Miami.
First of all, with the three teams involved there are arguments for each team on why they should be where they are ranked and who should go to Kansas City to play the Big 12 Championship and also possibly the National Championship. We all know Texas beat OU on a neutral field, Tech beat Texas at Lubbock, and OU crushed Tech in Norman. All three will be tied at 7-1 in the conference. The majority of Texas fans will argue that they should get the nod because of beating OU head to head on a neutral field. Why is it they do not figure Tech into the equation? OU fans say they slaughtered the team that beat Texas and they are playing the best football right now. I have yet to hear any comments on why Tech should get in the game. I know, I know, they got crushed by OU so they are out of the argument. Some will say being they are out of the argument then you have to talk head to head. You cannot rationalize this theory because of three teams being tied with identical records and they all beat each other. If a fan says Tech is out of the equation because of there huge loss to OU, Texas may have won the head to head with OU, but the team that Texas lost to was beaten soundly by OU. Sounds like to me the huge win OU had over Tech actually hurt OU because fans and pollsters eliminate Tech from the equation?
Now a few points to remember about the three games. The Texas-OU game was a very good and closer game than most will admit being the score was 45-35. The Texas- Tech game was pretty much one sided up until the last quarter, although most only remember Tech winning the game with one second left. Remember that Texas only had the lead for a little more than a minute in that game. The OU-Tech game was a total domination by the Sooners from beginning until the end.
Couple of other points to consider. If Texas would have lost to A&M yesterday, do you rank OU ahead of Tech being OU beat Tech? Yes because of the head to head. If Tech was to lose to Baylor on Saturday, do you rank Texas ahead of OU? Yes because of the head to head. If OU was to lose to Oklahoma State on Saturday, do you rank Tech ahead of Texas. Yes because of the head to head, yet that will more than likely not be the case because of where they are ranked right now. Tech might get close if they were to beat Missouri in the Big 12 Championship game. The opponents they have faced will be the same. But will voters remember they beat Texas?
So as you can see what you can argue for one you can argue for another. I have yet to hear an argument for any of the teams that solidifies who should be ranked where. Head to head cannot be a part of the equation when there are three teams involved. My last question is if Tech is out of the equation because of there lopsided loss to OU, would this not make OU a frontrunner instead of trying to spin it to head to head with Texas? Lets see what shakes out with the OU-OSU and Tech- Baylor games and then we can make an argument. Also if Florida and/or Alabama were to lose this weekend and/or the loser beat the winner in the SEC Championship, who knows you may see a rematch from that game in Dallas to be in Miami.
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