Oklahoma Football: Is Bringing Back the Championship Game Good for OU?
By Sixto Ortiz
Since the last Big 12 championship game in football, which the Sooners were part of, the position of Oklahoma football has been on both sides of this controversial issue.
At one point, Bob Stoops was one of the coaches in the conference who was not sorry to see the conference championship discontinued. It was Stoops’ belief that having to play an extra game prior to the bowl season was risky from an injury standpoint but also could jeopardize a team’s chances of playing in one of the top bowl games if an upset occurred.
The last couple of years, however, since the inception in 2014 of the new College Football Playoff, it has become apparent that the Big 12 is disadvantaged when it comes to the selection of the four playoff teams because it does not have a championship game. The best example was the inaugural season of the CFP, when both Baylor and TCU were Big 12 co-champions, both with 11-1 regular season records, and both were left out of the CFP picture.
OU president David Boren has been one of the biggest advocates for reinstating the championship game, which he believes is a necessary step for expansion and the future viability of the conference as a major player in college athletics.
Well, on Friday the Board of Directors of the Big 12 Conference ended the debate insofar as the Big 12 is concerned. Big 12 officials voted unanimously to bring back the football championship game, beginning in the 2017 season.
There’s no doubt that the Big 12 power brokers are keenly interested in leveling the playing field with the other Power Five conferences and ensuring that the Big has the best possible chance to consistently compete for berths in the College Playoff.
Now that the championship is back, the question becomes: Is this decision good or bad from the Sooners’ standpoint? After all, OU made the College Football Playoff last year without having to play in and win a conference championship game.
The Good: Better Odds to Make the College Football Playoff
According to an article in the Daily Oklahoman, data presented by consultants during the Big 12 meetings this week showed that the Big 12’s chances of making the CFP increase by approximately 14 percent if the conference adopts a championship game. So on the face of it, any move that increases the odds of a Big 12 team making a future CFP is good for everyone, especially the Sooners, who have positioned themselves as of late as perennial contenders for conference titles. And there is nothing to say that two conference teams couldn’t make the Playoff under the right circumstances.
Of course, naysayers can argue that in spite of the Big 12 lacking a championship game, Oklahoma made the CFP in 2015. But, 2015 appears to be a unique year where another Power Five conference with a championship game (the Pac-12), essentially knocked itself out of the running by failing to field a dominant conference team.
Chances are good that in the future, the cream will rise across all Power Five conferences, and there will always be a worthy suitor for a CFP berth that will benefit from the extra exposure provided by a championship game. By bringing back the championship game, the Big 12 is leveling the playing field with the other Power Five conferences.
The Bad: Another Chance to Stumble
A powerful argument against a championship game is simple: It’s another chance to lose. And even though Oklahoma has been quite successful in past championship games, the Sooners have stubbed their toe before, notably against Kansas State in 2003. The Wildcats surprised a powerful Sooner team, ranked No. 1 in the country at the time, and delivered a 35-7 beatdown as Darren Sproles ran all over the vaunted Sooner defense. Thanks to the BCS number crunchers, however, Oklahoma still made the BCS title game that year, only to lose to Nick Saban’s LSU Tigers.
A team doesn’t necessarily have to lose in order to have a championship game become an albatross around its neck. A bad showing in a championship game against an opponent widely expected to lose could be enough to derail the prospect of a CFP berth, especially if another Power Five team delivers a dominating championship game performance.
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Conference championship games are the proverbial beauty contest, and teams looking to impress had better do so resoundingly. Otherwise, a lackluster championship game performance could eliminate a team from CFP contention.
The Good: Another Chance to Shine
A huge reason why Ohio State leapfrogged the Big 12 in 2014 and captured a berth in the inaugural CFP was its dominating performance over Wisconsin in the Big Ten Championship game. In that game, the Buckeyes’ third-string quarterback, Cardale Jones, carved up the Wisconsin defense and led the 59-0 rout. This demolition of the Badgers convinced the CFP selection committee that Ohio State, in spite of starting a third string quarterback, was for real. And the Buckeyes went on to win the national title.
This is the other side of the championship game beauty contest coin. A team that delivers a dominant performance in a league championship game makes a strong statement to the CFP selection committee that it is playoff-ready. And at the end of the day, the selection committee wants to select a playoff field that will deliver the most exciting matchups for the semifinal and championship games. This is the best way to ensure millions of eyeballs will be glued to TV sets across the country.
The Good: More Revenue
If nothing else, the power players who run college football are interested in one thing: increasing the visibility and the revenue generating power of the sport. According to University of Oklahoma President David Boren, bringing back the Big 12 championship game will deliver $27 to $28 million in additional revenue to the conference.
Folks, that is definitely not peanuts; and, since the league has a revenue-sharing structure, all teams will benefit from the windfall. This is especially beneficial for lower tier Big 12 teams who don’t generate the rivers of cash that schools like Texas and Oklahoma generate year in and year out. And for a team like Oklahoma, more revenue is certainly a welcome benefit.
The Bad (Sort of): Will It Work With Ten Teams?
The quandary facing the Big 12 moving forward will be exactly how to structure the championship game with the league’s ten teams. Does the league preserve its round-robin structure, even if two teams that already played meet again in a title game? And how will the best two teams be selected? What will the tiebreakers be in case of equivalent records at the end of the season?
Another solution mentioned by Boren is the possibility of creating two five-team divisions and preserving the round-robin schedule. The Big 12 will have to think carefully on this one, because a less than optimal scheme that muddles rather than clarifies the situation could be enough ammo for the selection committee to go with another Power Five league champion whose situation is more clear. And this could be bad news for a team like Oklahoma, that is expected to consistently contend moving forward.
It stands to reason that the Big 12 is moving towards expansion. And expansion to twelve or more teams, along with a league championship game, is the only way the Big 12 will be on truly equal footing with the other Power Five conferences. Until that occurs, the league will remain at a perception disadvantage. And that’s a disadvantage even the best equipped Sooner teams might not be able to overcome.