Hey, Big 12! The problem is NOT your lack of a title game!

We would like to respectfully disagree with the pundits and talking heads who are making that "pivotal thirteenth game" the reason neither TCU nor Baylor are out there preparing for the first college playoff. 

That's not the problem, boys. 

The problem, frankly, was the way you tried to jack the system.

The Big 12 had a system in place for determining a champion. It was in their by-laws. It's still on their website. If you watch college football on television, you know what it was... head-to-head:

"Ten Teams...Nine Games...One True Champion."

Unless, of course, that system would have made Baylor the true champion, when the committee had made clear on December 2 that TCU was their darling. They were afraid that if TCU wasn't a conference champion, as the committee's rules said was fearfully important (and you know how important existing rules are!), the Frogs would get locked out at the last minute.

So, they cheated. At the expense of their own member school, Baylor.

Under the long-standing rules of the Big 12, the team with the best head-to-head record among those tied for the lead at the end of the season is the "One True Champion". Since Baylor outscored TCU 61-58 when they played earlier this year, Baylor would therefore be the champion. 

Can't have that, can we?

So, they hastily amended their rules: All teams with equal conference won-loss records are co-champions. 

TA-DA! Now, TCU's a conference champion. And, conveniently, so's Baylor, if they happen to have the chance to pass Ohio St (underdogs to the Badgers, if you can believe that now) or Florida St (always a threat to lose, even if they never do). I'm sure the Big 12 bigwigs patted each other on the back for their extreme cleverness. 

And I've never been prouder of a committee in my life. For when they met this weekend, I'd lay odds now that they looked at each other and started the conversation with, I sure hope we can take the other four conference champs after the Big 12 pulled THAT stunt this week...

Would they have left both of them out if one of the other four had lost? No, almost certainly not. Would they have bent the rules to fit their mood, as the Big 12 had done? Certainly not. But I'll wager that, deep in their secret heart, they're all happy with the message that was sent.

We are the Supreme Court of FBS football. Don't mess with us. ("Mess" isn't the work I want, but I'm a Christian and this is a family website.)

Ohio State made it easy for them, of course, by annihilating a top 15 team with their third string QB 59-0. Their own statement of "we start fresh every week" works to their advantage as well; moving TCU from 3rd to 6th wasn't so crazy then.

SO....
Does the Big 12 need a conference title game? NO. (This was more interesting.)
Does it need better non-conference scheduling. YES. Vehemently, YES. 
Did the CFP Committee send them a message? 

Depends on whether they understand it or not...