As I expected, there really isn't much to say about the game itself -- Iowa State was never competitive, and Texas Christian rolled without too much effort. The big story, of course, is that Texas Christian fell from 3d in the College Football Playoff system all the way to 6th -- despite a 52-point victory. Here are my thoughts on what happened.
1. On a day when there were big-time games all over the place, ESPN Gameday went to Waco, Tex., and spent much of its show emphasizing that Baylor had beaten Texas Christian earlier in the year. There were "61>58" signs all over the place.
2. Baylor rolled over K-State without too much trouble to finish with an 8-1 record in the Big XII -- the same record as Texas Christian. Given that Baylor had beaten Texas Christian head-to-head, the playoff guys faced a P.R. nightmare if they put Texas Christian in the playoff over Baylor.
3. Meanwhile, Ohio State was pounding Wisconsin 59-0 in the Big X championship game, which meant that the playoff guys could just avoid the whole Big XII controversy by giving the fourth slot in the playoffs to Ohio State. And that's what they did.
4. By reason of their win over Texas Christian, Baylor appears to have gotten the Big XII title -- they will be in the Cotton Bowl against Michigan State, while Texas Christian has been shunted to the Peach Bowl against a 9-3 Ole Miss team.
Now I understand that the Texas Christian fans are disappointed -- and I share their disappointment; few people wanted Texas Christian to make the playoffs more than I did. But here's the thing: Texas Christian led Baylor 58-37 with 11:38 to go in the fourth quarter of their game on October 11. Here's what happened after that:
1. Baylor took four plays to score a touchdown (Texas Christian 58, Baylor 44)
2. Texas Christian went 18 yards and punted
3. Baylor took five plays to go 92 yards and score another touchdown (Texas Christian 58, Baylor 51)
4. Texas Christian went 3 and out.
5. Baylor took five plays to go 91 yards and score another touchdown (58-58)
6. Texas Christian had 4th and 3 at the Baylor 45 with 1:17 left in the game, and called timeout. Out of the timeout, they threw a terrible pass and gave the ball to Baylor.
7. Baylor quickly moved into field goal range and won the game 61-58.
That was one of the worst stretches of football I have ever seen, and I think it is absolutely fair that it cost Texas Christian a shot at the playoffs. Here's an idea, Texas Christian -- make a tackle! Hit someone! Get some first downs! Show some heart! If you had done any of those things, you would have gone undefeated and you'd be in the playoff.
Every Texas Christian fan who complains about anything relating to this season should have to watch that footage over and over until they shut up.
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