By BLAIR KERKHOFF
By BLAIR KERKHOFF
Tribune News Service
GRAPEVINE, Texas — Four conference champions were rewarded Sunday with a spot in the inaugural College Football Playoff.
The fifth major conference, the Big 12, will embark in some soul searching and dialogue about it conducts business after its co-champions, Baylor and TCU, were omitted from the bracket.
“We’re obviously very disappointed,” Big 12 commissioner Bob Bowlsby said. “It appears we were penalized for not having a postseason championship game.
“If indeed that is the case, I wish we would have been advised of that, that it was likely about which we would be penalized.”
The four teams in the playoff — Alabama, Oregon, Florida State and Ohio State — won conference championship games.
The 10-team Big 12 does not. It did for 15 years as a 12-team conference, but when the league settled on 10 teams after the realignment period from 2009-12, it couldn’t have a championship game under NCAA bylaws.
The league chose not to expand to 12 teams and restore two divisions and a title game. It may have cost the conference this year.
Alabama, Oregon and Florida State were all but assured of making the bracket after their most recent victories.
But the fourth spot was less clear. The cases for Ohio State, Baylor and TCU were similar, but the Buckeyes’ 59-0 victory over Wisconsin in the Big Ten championship game was a difference maker.
“Ohio State’s performance in the 13th game gave them a quality win against a highly ranked team,” said playoff selection committee chairman Jeff Long, the Arkansas athletic director.
The emphasis was on the 13th game. Baylor defeated a higher-ranked opponent, Kansas State on Saturday, than the Buckeyes. But the additional game apparently made a difference to the committee.
So did Ohio State’s nonconference schedule, which was rated higher than both Big 12 teams. Scheduling will continue to be part of offseason discussions, Bowlsby said.
“We’ve been telling our coaches and athletic directors they need to strength their preseason schedule,” Bowlsby said. “Some have been able to do it, some not.”
Baylor expressed some anger at Bowlsby on Saturday. Earlier in the day, the commissioner had handed TCU a trophy for winning a share of the Big 12 championship. He did the same thing at Baylor after the Bears’ 38-27 victory over Kansas State.
Earlier in the week, Bowlsby said it wasn’t the league’s duty to present a single conference champion to the College Football Playoff committee. The conference coaches and officials said in case of ties, co-champions would be identified.
Baylor and TCU finished with 11-1 records and the Bears defeated the Horned Frogs 61-58 in a wild game at Waco on Oct. 11.
“There seems to be some who believe we had some control over declaring a co-champion or sole champion,” Bowlsby said. “The fact is, our coaches and ADs adopted unanimously when we have two teams tie we have co-champions. We don’t have a tiebreaker for the purpose of naming a champion.
“Will this facilitate a discussion? I’m sure it probably will.
Bowlsby did not question the integrity of the 12-member selection committee, which included former coaches Tom Osborne, Barry Alvarez and Tyrone Willingham.
“It’s a subjective process,” Bowlsby said. “We’re asking 12 honest people who they think are the four best teams. You can’t empower them the question the very judgment you ask them to provide.”