Here are the Big 12 standings, as of today:
Texas -- 6-1
Oklahoma State -- 5-2
Oklahoma -- 5-2
Iowa State -- 5-2
Kansas State -- 5-2
If the favorites win out over the season's final two weeks, the final standings would look like this:
Texas -- 8-1
Oklahoma State -- 7-2
Oklahoma -- 7-2
Kansas State -- 7-2
Here are two related items to the standings above:
Since Oklahoma State owns head-to-head over both of the other tied teams, this seems easy: Oklahoma State advances to the Big 12 Championship. Right? Not necessarily.
Oklahoma and Kansas State did not play each other, which, as currently written, means Oklahoma State's head-to-head wins over OU and K-State would be thrown out as the conference moves to its next tiebreaker scenario.
Here are the Big 12 tiebreaker procedures, direct from the conference website:
In No. 1, I believe the comma after "If not" is a typo that has somehow gone unnoticed over the years. Or maybe it's supposed to be there? But if it is, what does that even mean? Who can make sense of this?
I reached out to the Big 12 today to try to make sense of this and have yet to hear back as of this writing.
However, Sellout Crowd reported Tuesday that the conference expects to "clarify" to conference ADs its 3-way tiebreaker procedures on Wednesday. What's more, it seems the "clarification" was sparked by a conversation between a conference official and the reporter.
I'll let the great Berry Tramel take it from here:
Last week, I corresponded with a Big 12 source to get clarification on what that tiebreaker meant.
Our exchange kept confusing me, but I eventually was told that because OU and K-State did not play each other, OSU’s sweep of the Sooners and Wildcats was nullified. OK. Seemed silly. But at least I had confirmation.
Then Monday, I was told by the Big 12 source that our Saturday night communication caused further discussion in the conference office, leading to the clarification, which is scheduled to be presented to the Big 12 athletic directors in a conference call Wednesday.
What's worse: not changing your rules to reward the team that obviously should be rewarded, or recognizing your mistake and changing your rules mid-season?
I’m told OU was unaware there would be a “clarification” of the tiebreaker rules tomorrow. The Big 12 athletic directors met today and there was no discussion of it. They meet every Wednesday as a standing (virtual) meeting in line with CFP rankings release. #Sooners
— George Stoia III (@GeorgeStoia) November 14, 2023
This is the first season the Big 12 has had to deal with such a problem. As a 12-team conference from 1996-2010, the conference split into two 6-team divisions where all divisional bunk mates played each other (and that still didn't stop Big 12 rules from lifting Oklahoma over Texas in 2008, when most other conference's rules would've named Texas the South champion). From 2011 through last season, the 10-team Big 12 played a 9-game round-robin.
Life as a 14-team conference where not everyone plays each other is new to the Big 12... but it's not new to other leagues. As pointed out by Sellout Crowd, here's how the Mountain West adjudicates the exact scenario the Big 12 could face: “Winning percentage of the tied teams are compared in a mini round-robin format. If, within the mini round-robin, any of the tied teams did not play each other, the group of teams shall remain tied, unless one team defeated all other tied teams.”
The Big 12 botched its first go-round at that same problem. That is beyond dispute. You can't leave a poorly-written, illogical rule in place... but you also can't change your rules mid-season.
The question now: In whose direction did they botch it?
Update: The Big 12 sent this to FootballScoop on Wednesday:
Regarding Step 1 of Multiple-Team Ties in Conference Tiebreaker Procedure: in the event of a multiple-team tie, head-to-head wins takes precedence. If all the tied teams are not common opponents, the tied team that defeated each of the other tied teams earns the Championship berth.
There have been no changes to any rules regarding Big 12 Football tiebreaker procedures, which were agreed upon prior to the season and went into effect August of 2023.
This was not the commonly-held interpretation before today. It appears the Big 12 has decided to change the rule while pretending it didn't change the rule.