Daily Mullets (November 15)

This time of year is probably Mrs. Pistols’ least favorite. What are we doing on Monday night? Watching Oklahoma State play a basketball team you’ve never heard of and then I’m going to write about it. Sweet.

That freaking CMU game

Good reporting here by Adam Kemp and Kyle Fredrickson on how OSU actually did take legal action regarding the CMU game and how it led basically nowhere. This is a tough paragraph to read.

Rogers Redding, the NCAA football secretary rules editor, believes that’s probably right.

“It is very rare to end a quarter with a penalty that extends the quarter,” Redding said. “It’s even more rare to end the fourth quarter on a fourth down play. It is rare beyond belief, for a fourth down play in the fourth quarter to end the game to be set back by a loss-of-down penalty with no time left. It’s as if the perfect storm came together. It’s the only one I have heard of something like it.”” [NewsOK]

OSU’s lawyer who has been pursuing the situation ended it like this: “I just don’t see any avenues for us.” I would probably agree.

The playoff is probably dead for OSU

Jenni Carlson dives further into the issue.

But what if the Cowboys were 11-1 instead? They would still face high hurdles because the Big 12 struggled so mightily with nonconference opponents this season. The conference isn’t held in high esteem. Yet a one-loss team with wins against Oklahoma, West Virginia and Pitt, which suddenly has victories against top-10 teams Clemson and Penn State, would still be hard to ignore.

Instead, the Cowboys are forced to face the reality that a loss that shouldn’t have been might crush any chance of getting into the playoff. [NewsOK]

It will. Even if they win the final two games.

Will OSU use 3-3-5 against WVU?

Robert Allen insinuates the 3-3-5 OSU whipped out against Texas Tech might be used this weekend in Ft. Worth.

Meanwhile, Spencer has been beat up by at least the vocal minority of Oklahoma State fans. The Cowboys defensive coordinator relies on his key stat for a primary progress report week to week and that is point per possession, which against Texas Tech was pretty good. He’s hopeful that the Cowboys collection of defensive schemes can work as well or even better against TCU. [Go Pokes]

Also, welcome to the points per drive club. Using that number, OSU still isn’t that good: Currently No. 67 in the country after Saturday.

CFB Playoff committee flipping?

As the guys at CRFF recently pointed out, the CFB Playoff folks can’t seem to keep their story straight from week to week.

That was until Bill Hancock, executive director of the College Football Playoff told ESPN that they “will be well aware of what happened on the field … That ability to comprehensively consider each game is one of the most significant benefits of the CFP protocol.”

Last week, the CFP’s tune changed towards the outcome of that game. When asked about the outcome of the game, Kirby Hocutt, Big 12 Representative for the College Football Playoff, said in the weekly teleconference, “We’re viewing it as a loss. It’s not within our purview to decide wins and losses. The committee is aware of what transpired in that game and by the same token believe that we have Oklahoma State ranked in the appropriate spot that they deserve this week.” [CRFF]

I personally think OSU should be docked for playing CMU to the final play at home but not necessarily for a loss. That is, I think being docked for a three-point win against CMU and a last-second loss should be effectively the same.

Of course by that logic, I would probably have OSU a lot lower in the CFB Playoff rankings than it currently is because of all the close games. But the committee has already shown it is trying to find the “best teams” and not the teams with the best records which sort of highlights the absurdity of the entire exercise.

Down Goes UConn (again)

OSU’s first Maui opponent is now 0-2.

UConn came out flat, missing 12 of its first 14 shots, and allowed Northeastern, picked to finish seventh in the Colonial Athletic Association, to open an 11-point lead.

The offense was UConn’s glaring issue most of the night, but the Huskies still managed to tie the score in the second half. But each time UConn threw a punch, Northeastern threw a right hook. And UConn couldn’t buy a bucket. [CBS Sports]

One loss to a bad team is an outlier. Two is … well I don’t know what it is, but it’s not good.

Baylor has … stopped recruiting?

Props to Chris Knox for finding this. It sounds like Baylor’s coaches have completely mailed it in.

“I don’t know what they’re doing there, but if you told me they weren’t recruiting at all, I wouldn’t be surprised with what we’re seeing,” a Big 12 assistant said. “One less team to go against is just fine with Big 12 coaches.”

“[My high school students will] go and watch whoever’s playing Baylor,” said [Coach] Hulme, whose school produced five players on the current Baylor roster. “It’s sort of sad.” [ESPN]

That’s rough. I have a lot of Baylor friends I actually like (which is a foreign concept to some of you, I realize), and this reality has to be a difficult one for them. Also, here is Baylor’s current recruiting ranking. Yeesh.

More PFB

Gundy would rather watch SpongeBob than the CFB Playoff show … Five thoughts on OSU’s win over UCA last night … OSU scored 100+ in consecutive games for the first time in 20 years … Winners and losers from Saturday’s game … I sound like Darth Vader in our newest pod … This on what worked and didn’t work about OSU’s defensive overhaul is terrific … OSU loses out on Joe Wickline’s son.

More Stuff I’m Reading

Bill Simmons lost his show, and his website isn’t looking that great either … How to scout college hoops from your house.

My buddy Kevin tweeted out the Emmy Awards trailer for Friday Night Lights last night. I’d never seen it. I nearly wept. What a dang show. Texas forever.