Big 12 commissioner Bob Bowlsby is one of the most powerful men in college athletics, which is why it's surprising he's been such a shrinking violet when it comes to advocating for his teams in the College Football Playoff. After fully endorsing an ad campaign that touted "One True Champion" beginning at Big 12 media days, Bowlsby is embracing the likely scenario of the league having co-champions.
On Wednesday, Bowlsby joined KESN 103.3 on "The Afternoon Show" with Tim Cowlishaw and Matt Mosley. He continued to maintain that a head-to-head tiebreaker in his conference's bylaws has nothing to do with the committee. He was also candid in saying he suspects coaches lobbied for this idea of co-champions because they have "bonuses" in their contracts for winning a conference title. Bowlsby says this rule applies to every sport, although he's left the door open for possible changes in the future. TCU will certainly want to hold off on that discussion. With TCU ranked three spots ahead of Baylor in the latest CFP rankings, there's a good chance the Bears' head-to-head advantage won't come into play.
In a strange twist, the only way Baylor would benefit from its win over the Horned Frogs is if both teams are left out of the Final Four. In that scenario, the Bears would advance to the better bowl game.
The committee continues to contradict itself on a weekly basis. The chairman, Arkansas athletic director Jeff Long, told 103.3 KESN two weeks ago that the committee would have to determine the Big 12 champion if the conference does not a present a team. But on Tuesday, Long said it wasn't the committee's role to determine a champion. The members would look at Baylor and TCU as co-champions (if both teams win Saturday).
"I don't think they have to pick a champion," Bowlsby said of the committee. "I think they have to pick a team. They are going to do that with their own eyeball [test]. They aren't going to name our champion for us. We're going to have co-champions. They can certainly name whoever they want to be in the playoff."
In recent days, Bowlsby has heard from Baylor athletic director Ian McCaw. They have a different interpretation of the Big 12 bylaws. McCaw explained to me Tuesday that he believes Baylor should be declared the Big 12's conference champion if both teams win Saturday.
"At Baylor, we deal in reality," McCaw said.
Bowlsby was asked Wednesday about his level of confidence the Big 12 was going to land at least one team in the College Football Playoff.
"I am confident we'll have a team in and I think there are also some scenarios where we can do better than that," he said. "The fact that Baylor plays a highly ranked Kansas State team is a very good thing for them. It's an opportunity to demonstrate the quality of their team. There's potential for some movement...if some of that movement includes a few upsets, it's not inconceivable that we could get more than [one]."
"There could be some upsets in our league, too. If those upsets happen, we will have squandered an opportunity."
Bowlsby said he wanted this new playoff system to strengthen October and November games across the country. And he thinks that's happened. When I asked him about expanding the playoff to eight teams, it sounded like he could go either way.
"Four teams can be embedded into the bowl system," Bowlsby said. "As we think about an expansion to eight or something beyond, all the sudden you begin to weaken the bowl environment. All the sudden some of those games will have to be played before the Christmas holiday. I could capably argue either side, but I don't think we'll be in a big hurry to get to a bigger format."
Bowlsby said he doesn't regret the "One True Champion" slogan. He believes it reflected how teams in the Big 12 have to play everyone on an annual basis. There's no situation where you only face a certain team every three or four years.
Of course, it would be simpler if there actually was one champion. Baylor fans can make a solid argument for that if the Bears win Saturday. But for now, the committee is siding with TCU's overall body of work.
Bowlsby could sleep a lot better if both teams somehow make it into the playoff. If only he were willing to lobby for them a little harder. Or at all.
