Art Briles thinks TCU and Baylor’s lack of historic notoriety cost them playoff spots
Baylor coach Art Briles is optimistic about his team in 2015, but for some reason he can’t stop chirping about 2014.
Briles, who was making the rounds at ESPN studios Wednesday, noted that had Baylor or TCU been more notable college football programs, they would have made the College Football Playoff.
Art Briles on 4 “brand names” making playoff: “A lot of 60 (year olds) on selection committee. Old dogs don’t wander far from home”
— Brett McMurphy (@McMurphyESPN) July 22, 2015
Actually, coach Briles, the reason Baylor and TCU didn’t make the College Football Playoff was the lack of a conference title game. This is something College Football Playoff committee chairman Jeff Long noted and something Big 12 commissioner Bob Bowlsby acknowledged this after the four playoff spots were announced.
“It’s clear that we were penalized for not having a postseason championship game,” Bowlsby said in an interview with ESPN on Dec. 7. “And it would have been nice to had been told that ahead of time. Because we made the impression that this was — we had a different model, but it wasn’t one that was going to penalize us. And I think it’s clear that it did, and I think it was even said that it did. So that will cause us to go back to the drawing board a little bit, talk about whether or not we need to think about a different model.”
OK, so can we put the feigned disrespect and conspiracy theories to rest?
And even though the Big 12 knows the lack of a 13th game was the reason it was the only major conference on the outside of the playoff looking in, it still has no plans to add a title game in the near future.
Baylor and TCU likely will be in the playoff conversation again this year, but unless one of those teams goes undefeated, they could be looking at the exact same scenario again.
What will be the excuse then?
For more TCU news, visit PurpleMenace.com.
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Graham Watson is the editor of Dr. Saturday on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email her at [email protected] or follow her on Twitter! Follow @YahooDrSaturday
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