FORT WORTH, Texas -- The instant classic was as memorable as the score, 61-58, is irreversible. And come Sunday morning, Baylor believed, the comeback win over TCU would at long last cement its playoff case.
Not anymore.
Not after Tuesday's latest College Football Playoff rankings blew up everything. The committee reaffirmed its belief in the Frogs' strength of schedule and overall performance by surprisingly vaulting them over Florida State and into their highest ranking of the season at No. 3.
Baylor, so ambitious entering last weekend's Texas Tech game, now looks to be cooked without help on multiple fronts. The Bears checked in at No. 6 and Ohio State stayed one spot ahead at No. 5.
TCU coach Gary Patterson was watching practice film when the rankings were released.
"Finish the journey," Patterson said in a text message.
In a remarkable twist, it could be that 48-46, the score of the Bears' stunning Saturday night escape against the Red Raiders, could be more damaging to Baylor's playoff hopes than 61-58 ever was to helping it get in.
Where are the spin doctors when you need ‘em? Actually, Baylor already hired one. On Monday we learned of Baylor's curious hiring of a public relations firm to maximize exposure during this crucial week.
The founder of the PR firm is Kevin Sullivan, a familiar name in these parts. He's a former longtime Dallas Mavericks PR man and later served as George W. Bush's White House communications director. It's hard to imagine Baylor coach Art Briles green-lighting such a move, but remember that Baylor president Ken Starr has his own White House history as independent counsel in the Bill Clinton-Monica Lewinsky investigation.
That news was met with expected snickering and eye-rolling at TCU. One TCU staffer wondered if Baylor felt compelled to go corporate and blitz the media because it was anxious about its playoff standing.
On Monday, Patterson told reporters that trying to influence the committee would be a mistake. On Tuesday he expounded on it.
"You've got to let your team speak," Patterson said. "The only way you can do that is on the field. We had our slip-up; we got beat by Baylor. Baylor had their slip-up; they got beat by West Virginia. Ohio State had their slip-up; they got beat by Virginia Tech.
"You can look at all that stuff a thousand ways, however you want to look at it. And like everybody does, you can skew your stats any way you want to go skew them to look better than the other two or three or four teams. All you can do is just control what you have, and do what you do, and for us it's Iowa State. That's what our kids have done all year."
Before the thud of Tuesday's rankings rocked the college football landscape, the presumed story line was TCU would jump back into the final-four bracket at No. 4 following Mississippi State's loss to Ole Miss. Some had Baylor going bumper-to-bumper at No. 5.
Then, assuming the Frogs handle 2-9 Iowa State at home in Saturday's morning game and Baylor beats No. 9 Kansas State — who is still vying for its own share of the Big 12 title, mind you — in the nightcap, TCU would be left only to pray that 61-58 wouldn't take them down.
Prayer seems unnecessary now, unless you're Baylor. At No. 3, TCU should be facing a win-and-in scenario. The Bears need Ohio State and Florida State to lose in their respective conference title games just to get to No. 4.
Neither outcome though is terribly far-fetched. Ohio State will start its third quarterback of the season against Wisconsin and Florida State, up against Georgia Tech after knocking off Georgia, has been living on borrowed time for months.
It's been nearly two months since TCU's Oct. 11 nightmare in Waco. An interception return put the Frogs ahead 58-37 with 11 minutes to go, and then everything fell apart.
The Frogs recovered, drilling then-No. 15 Oklahoma State at home, the start of a seven-game win streak, that includes a 48-10 Thanksgiving thrashing of a Texas team that showed enough improvement in previous weeks many who cover the sport pick the Longhorns to win. TCU dominated from start to finish.
The College Football Playoff Committee ranked TCU six spots higher than Baylor in its initial poll. Baylor has moved up from No. 13 to No. 6, but never did the committee use 61-58 as an overall measuring stick.
Baylor athletic director Ian McCaw has spent the early part of this week trumpeting the victory over TCU, offering it as the obvious tiebreaker for playoff inclusion if both teams win Saturday and share the conference title.
The Big 12's only faith-based private schools could well wind up as co-champs. But it appears the committee has already picked the conference's one true champion.
The TCU players planned to watch the Baylor-Kansas State game as long as it took care of its own business first.
Assuming they do beat Iowa State, they can now watch the nightcap free of the anxiety of 61-58.
"It should be a good game, it really should," TCU senior cornerback Kevin White said earlier Tuesday, before the rankings were released. "I really feel like those are the next two best teams that the Big 12 has to offer this year."
Apparently, the committee does, too.
