Big 12 brings big mess back to BCS

And here it is, as if there was any doubt it would show, the chaos that every proponent of a playoff system hoped would arrive.

When Texas Tech went from guns up to beat down Saturday night, the race for the national championship game officially went from sporting event to sales pitch. Not even conference title games are immune from the controversial touch of the BCS, with the hybrid poll likely being the tiebreaker for which of the Big 12 South juggernauts gets to play in its championship game.

This year’s issue, because of its convoluted nature, might be even more destructive to the current system than last year’s fiasco that saw a two-loss LSU team win a national championship.

The issues? Well, they begin and end in the Big 12. Oklahoma destroying Texas Tech effectively takes the Red Raiders out of the equation because of how overmatched they were in a 44-point whooping.

But it’s that same margin of victory that throws a giant longhorn into the whole equation. Had the Sooners eked by with a victory over the Raiders (and in this scenario, that should be defined as 14 points or less), then it’s likely that Texas would have remained ranked ahead of Oklahoma in the human polls based on the fact that the Longhorns beat the Sooners on a neutral field earlier this season. But because of how mercilessly the Sooners crushed Tech, Oklahoma leapfrogged Texas despite the head-to-head defeat.

Texas remains barely ahead of the Sooners in the BCS poll, but another impressive Oklahoma win next week at No. 11 Oklahoma State, and those teams probably switch positions.

Actual logic would seem to favor the Longhorns holding on to the higher spot. They effectively had the Red Raiders beat, on the road, had it not been for one amazing drive capped by a ridiculous play by an insanely talented receiver. Had Texas played that game at home, it’s quite likely the Longhorns would still be undefeated and holding down the top of the polls.

But that’s not the way it works when rankings decide your team’s fate. The power of right now counts for so much more than past month or even logic.

Besides, Oklahoma has its own reasonable claim. Let’s call it The Florida Argument.

The Gators, who have played so well of late they’ve bolted to No. 2 in the human polls, appear poised to hold a guaranteed spot in the national championship game with wins this week against Florida State and the following week against No. 1 Alabama in the Southeastern Conference title game.

The Gators, then, have been exonerated for their home loss to Mississippi because of how well they’re playing now.

So shouldn’t the Sooners be able to make the same claim? Yes, they lost to Texas, but they have scored at least 58 points in each of the last four games, and they just made the most recent Game of the Century look like an absolute mismatch.

It’s a point Oklahoma coach Bob Stoops made Saturday night, and it’s probably the one that will carry the most weight in this subjective world of college football rankings.

Where is Southern Cal in this whole discussion? The Trojans are currently muted and praying Missouri can create further chaos by winning the Big 12 title game.