The Only Thing Oklahoma State Can Control Is a Big 12 Title

This is a guest post by friend of the blog Robert Whetsell

2011… I don’t really want to go there, but Carson Cunningham and Matt Amilian kinda went down that path recently, so I went along for the ride:

It's a very crowded, dark place… pic.twitter.com/ZPgZ13CzF2

— I'm beyond help (@RobertW_OkSt) November 21, 2016

That’s the day that I stopped caring about college football things decided upon by humans. If you haven’t come to terms with this yet, let me help you. All of sports thrives on the mantra of “win and you’re in.” 

Except college football.

High school football, basketball, wrestling, baseball, soccer, hockey, etc. Professional football, basketball, baseball, hockey, soccer, etc. Even college basketball, hockey, soccer, lacrosse, baseball, wrestling, softball, etc.

Win your division, conference, or league, and you move on to the next level where you have a shot at competing for a bigger championship. Win that, and there may be more opportunities. But one thing is a given…keep winning, and you keep playing.

Except in college football.

Only in college football can you win a major conference title and NOT be included in the chance to win the national title, while another team who did NOT win their conference, maybe didn’t even play for the title, gets the chance to keep playing.

Why?

Because college football is the only sport alive where humans get to decide who is worthy. Before you have a stroke, yes, there are “at-large” bids that humans decide upon in college basketball, but they DON’T get to discriminate against those who won their conference championship.

Many have written (including CRFF and PFB) about the need to expand the college football playoff to eight teams. I wrote about this a very long time ago, advocating for eight super-conferences with divisions that would feed the playoff. That’s not happening anytime soon, but this could happen now by giving the Power 5 conferences auto-bids, then choosing three other teams.

Let the normal bowl-a-rama take place for those not getting the invite. It’s not difficult at all. One more week of games compared to the current format. Business as usual.

Just imagine Bedlam with a guaranteed spot in the college football playoff on the line.

I would have said “biscuits and gravy,” but whatever.

But that’s not how it is, and doesn’t look like it will be for some time. So I worry about what OSU can control. Namely Bedlam. A Big 12 title.

Because that’s within their grasp without asking for permission from humans. Humans who are biased, like myself. Humans who make decisions that cost a team a win, when the rules in place say they….ok, I’ll stop right there. No need to revisit that, as Carson and Matt have already exposed the dark place.

My point is that, like 2011 (and 2013, and 2015), the thing OSU can control is the next game. Win, and you’re the Big 12 champion. Anything after that is not up to them, so I’m not going to stress about it.

Beat OU!