Hey, Texas: Congratulations on your title (*)
At this time, we would like to congratulate Kansas State on its 1999 Big 12 football championship. The same goes for Nebraska in 2000 and 2001, for Texas in 2002, Iowa State in 2004 and Kansas in 2007.
In each of these years, the aforementioned teams lost out on tiebreakers and did not advance to the Big 12 championship game. As a result, nowhere on their walls do they claim being Big 12 champions for that particular year.
However, losing out in a predetermined tiebreaker hasn’t stopped Texas from claiming the 2008 Big 12 crown. UT is claiming to have won a conference championship for winning a game in which it didn’t even play.
The Longhorns lost out in a three-way tie last season. Oklahoma, Texas and Texas Tech tied at 7-1 in conference play last season and each finished 1-1 against one other. Using a tiebreaker agreed upon by all league parties involved, the Sooners advanced to the Big 12 title game because of their higher BCS ranking at the time. OU then beat Missouri 62-21 in Arrowhead Stadium for the Big 12 title.
Texas was angry, still is angry, and is now claiming the 2008 Big 12 title with an asterisk.
Did Texas get robbed? In a word, probably. But those are the tiebreaker rules. You don’t like the rules, change ‘em.
None of this would have happened had the Longhorns not lost to Texas Tech. UT created the three-way tie with its 39-33 loss at Lubbock on Nov. 1. The Longhorns evidently have yet to acknowledge that loss, nor to they accept the circumstances that came with that loss.
OU is the actual 2008 Big 12 champ. The Sooners actually played in last year’s Big 12 title game, actually won that game, then actually advanced to the national title game for winning that game. No asterisk necessary.
If Texas gets to use an asterisk in 2008, then so should the Red Raiders. You would think the Longhorn brass would stress the importance of not losing a game while alone in first place. Instead, they’re clinging to a title they did not earn.
This is all so juvenile. If the Longhorns had beaten Texas Tech last season, they wouldn’t be showing their asterisks right now.
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