In the 2014 NCAA football season (last year), we experienced the first ever College Football Playoffs. Instead on only two teams competing for a national championship at the end of the year, four teams got selected to have a playoff. The four selected teams were Oregon (Pac 12 Champions) Alabama (SEC Champions) FSU (ACC Champions) and Ohio State (Big 10 Champions). On the outside looking in were Baylor and TCU (Both from the Big 12).
If Baylor, TCU, or the Big 12 in general feels "snubbed" or feels as if they deserved more... they are wrong!
There are two reasons why this is true. But first let's remember the situation: Alabama and Oregon were getting into the playoffs for sure. Their resumes were the best. FSU was also getting in for sure - they were the undefeated defending champions. So that left one spot open and three teams that wanted it. Baylor, TCU, and Ohio State.
Reason 1: Why TCU did not deserve the final spot.
"One True Champion" is literally the slogan of the Big 12. The Big 12 teams play each all other once each, and whoever wins the most is crowned "Big 12 Champion". And (apparently a completely unrelated topic.....) a "tie-breaker" is awarded to the team that wins the head-to-head match-up against the other team.
When TCU and Baylor tied last season, however, the Big 12 refused to name "one true champion". They awarded the teams as follows:
Big 12 Conference - One True Champion
Baylor: "Big 12 co-Champion with tiebreaker over TCU"
TCU: "Big 12 co-Champion"
WHAT KIND OF CRAP IS THAT?! That's ridiculous! That's so absurd that the Big 12 only defended it for a few months and then, before the next season even started, self corrected and redefined their interpretation of tiebreaker into an unmistakable "Big 12 Conference tie-breaker: To be used to determine the Conference champion..." Which in layman's terms means: "We were idiots and Baylor should have been named Champions last year. Sorry we screwed up. We will never do that again."
Thus, not only did TCU deserve nothing more than they got last year, but they even deserved less! They did not deserve to be co-Champions in the Big 12. And since they so very much didn't deserved it, the Big 12 had to redefine the rules of "tie-breaker" the following off season.
I don't feel bad for the Big 12 not getting into the Playoffs. They should have had the guts and common sense to name Baylor the Big 12 Champions.
And I don't feel bad for TCU not getting into the Playoffs because they didn't deserve it over Baylor. Baylor beat them head to head and should have been crowned the "Big 12 (Only True) Champion."
Reason 2: Why Baylor did not deserve the final spot.
Because of Reason 1, the final playoff spot came down to Baylor or Ohio State.
When the selection committee chose Ohio State over Baylor, it wasn't obvious if they had made the right choice or not. Only in hindsight was the selection committee proven right.
After placing Ohio State into the playoffs, Baylor got selected to play #8 Michigan State in the Cotton Bowl. Michigan State comes from the same division as Ohio State, so Ohio State had to go through Michigan State to win the Big 10 conference. Therefore, Baylor was playing a team the better of whom Ohio State had already got.
When Baylor went on to lose their bowl game to Michigan State (in their home state of Texas too!), this killed the argument that Baylor should have been put in the playoffs instead of Ohio State.
Ohio State then went on to beat both Alabama and Oregon to become National Champions; proving they were a good choice to take a spot in the college playoffs.
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