Oklahoma doesn't need a Big 12 Championship game in football.
And the good news for the Sooners is there doesn't appear to be one happening any time soon.
Big 12 commissioner Bob Bowlsby recently met with the league's athletic directors and apparently Bowlsby has changed his mind. Again, good news of Oklahoma.
About a week after saying the Big 12 needed to do something after getting left out of the college football playoff in 2014, Bowlsby turned the other direction suggesting the league isn't looking to add a Big 12 title game.
Baylor and TCU got left out of college football's playoff and the reasons are unclear why. Perhaps because a team like Ohio State got an extra game -- a Big Ten Championship game -- to impress.
It was too bad for the Frogs and the Bears. But it wasn't so bad for Oklahoma because the Sooners, not Baylor or TCU, are members of an elite group of teams in college football. They're called the "Haves." Baylor, TCU, Kansas, Iowa State, heck, maybe even Texas Tech, are the "Have Nots," so when an extra game is a requirement for a team like Oklahoma, it's never a good thing.
Baylor and TCU need some help. Neither have a century's worth of successful football to fall back on. They are new to the party and because of it, neither gets the benefit of the doubt like Texas or Oklahoma.When you don't have that benefit, you need some help -- like a championship game.
Baylor beat TCU last season but didn't beat much of anyone else outside the Big 12. Because of it, the Big 12 got shut out of the playoff, but credit Bowlsby for not caving. Just because Baylor didn't schedule well enough doesn't mean the Big 12 has to change what it does. 2014 was a Baylor problem, not a league problem.
So it goes in college football where the name on the jersey matters. Perhaps that helped Ohio State and worked against Baylor, but because of it, Oklahoma should always side against any championship game.
Baylor and TCU, not Oklahoma are required to schedule tougher. Same goes for Boise State and Colorado State, too. They are "Have-Nots." They have tougher road. Less cache. OU gets a break. It's not fair, or right, but it is the world we live in.
Apparently, the Big 12 agrees. For now. A pedestrian schedule, something OU has actually tried to avoid, would be good enough for the Sooners, so the last thing they need is a second game against Texas or Baylor or Oklahoma State. Another chance to trip up? No thanks.
Yet, Oklahoma has scheduled strong when it probably doesn't need to, while Baylor has scheduled much softer, when it definitely needs to do the opposite. Baylor's theory of scheduling works if, 1. You don't lose, and 2. If you do, you have a bail-out opportunity, like a Big 12 title.
Meanwhile, Oklahoma doesn't need all that. Their schedule, which includes Tennessee this season, has a built-in, bail-out, so a loss somewhere along the way in the Big 12 isn't near as devastating. An extra game, like a Big 12 Championship would only bring bad news, not a unique opportunity.
For now, the Big 12's decision is a good one for Oklahoma.
Follow Andrew Gilman on Twitter: @andrewgilmanOK
