TCU vs. Baylor Debate Has A Simple Solution…Scoreboard!

There's no doubt in my mind that TCU is playing the best football in the Big Twelve. They've won six games in a row and have a legitimate Heisman contender in quarterback Trevone Boykin. There's also no doubt in my mind that, the way things stand right now, that if the Big 12 were to get a team in the playoff then that team should be Baylor.

Both teams have impressive resumes and in a perfect world both would get in. However, this isn't a perfect world and the only conference that gets a multi-team consideration is the SEC. The Big 12 is fighting for its playoff life and TCU and Baylor are fighting each other.

Both teams have equal records and both have made their arguments on the field. It'll be a long time before anyone forgets the 82 points TCU posted on Texas Tech. In addition they pasted Oklahoma State and added some punctuation with a 48-10 thumping of the Texas Longhorns on Thanksgiving. Baylor, like TCU, has a loss on the season but possesses the nation's high scoring offense at 50 points per game. They hammered Oklahoma, in Norman, and have won three in a row with Texas Tech and Kansas State remaining on their schedule. They also hold the wildcard in this whole debate in the way of a 61-58 win over TCU.

Supporters of the Horned Frogs want to point out the soft non-conference schedule that Baylor played and the fact that they held a lead over the Bears, in Waco, for a majority of the game. Baylor fans simply want to point towards the scoreboard. When a head-to-head matchup comes into play then everything else goes out the window. Baylor could have played against Moore West Junior High in the non-conference portion of their schedule and trailed TCU until the very last fraction of a second but it doesn't matter because of their 61-58 win over the Frogs on October 11^th.

I've heard comparisons to Oklahoma and Texas in 2008 but it doesn't really apply here. The Sooners lost to the Longhorns at the Texas State Fair and the two teams ended up with an equal record. However, it was OU that went on to the Big 12 championship and ultimately the BCS championship game. That scenario doesn't apply here though. What TCU fans are leaving out with this argument (and what Texas fans tried to leave out in 2008) is that there was a third team in the mix. Texas Tech also had an 11-1 record and a win over the Longhorns to force a three-way tie where the highest ranked team got the nod. Mack Brown tried to politic and Texas fans invested money in banners to be flown around the conference championship game. It was all futile though and the same politicking by TCU head coach Gary Patterson will most likely have a similar result.

If Baylor wins out then they'll most likely pass up TCU in the standings. They have to! Equal records and a head-to-head win would seal the deal for the Bears. The BCS system was replaced with the four team playoff because it was broken. If TCU were to get in ahead of Baylor then the already criticized playoff system would start off broken as well. Do the Horned Frogs deserve to be in the playoff? Yes. Do they deserve to be in ahead of Baylor? No.

Scoreboard!