Westwood One’s coverage of college football continues on Saturday as Oklahoma hosts Baylor. Coverage begins at 11:30 AM Eastern on Westwood One and streaming right here at WestwoodOneSports.com.
For a preview of the game, we turn to our analyst Chris Doering.
CLICK HERE TO LISTEN TO THE GAME LIVE
Can a One-Loss Baylor Squad Make the CFP?
Over the next month, there will be a lot of de facto playoff games as the regular season winds down. These contests will help sift out the four teams that are selected by the committee to participate in the first College Football Playoff. While there are currently 11 one-loss teams that are ranked in the top 15, that number will be whittled down to at no more than eight after Saturday because of head-to-head matchups on the schedule.
One of the teams that could prosper from these loser-go-home games is Baylor, which finds itself currently ranked at number 12 and has a huge hurdle of its own this week as the Bears travel to Norman to take on the 6-2 Oklahoma Sooners. Baylor controls its own destiny in the Big 12 with the Sooners, Oklahoma State, Texas Tech and a giant game with Kansas State still remaining on the schedule. Should Baylor navigate that gauntlet successfully there would be a good argument made for their inclusion into the four-team Playoff field. Unfortunately for them, they won’t make it unless they get some significant help.
First off, I believe the Big 12 champion will be punished for not having participated in a conference title game. Agree or disagree, I believe the committee will reward the other four power conferences for having to lay it on the line again with an additional game. The good news for the Bears would be that they would be playing their final game that same day against Kansas State, which would be huge should the Wildcats keep winning out to that point. In fact, it would actually serve as a championship game in its own right.
Secondly, there would have to be some SEC West cannibalization taking place where we end up with those teams knocking each other off and leaving the SEC with four or five two-loss teams. It would be a tough argument to make to include more than one SEC team in the field, given those two losses for the other non-SEC Championship teams. The Bears could really benefit if another layer was added to this scenario: the team representing the SEC Eastern division wins in Atlanta. At that point, all bets are off. Can you imagine the nation’s best football conference being shut out come January? It’s unlikely, but the scenario exists.
The final reason that I think it will be difficult for Baylor to make their way into the top four is because their one loss came to a West Virginia team whose stock is falling with three losses already and tough games remaining at Texas and at home against K-State.
Of course, this talk could be all for naught, however, as the Bears have to take care of their own business this week in Norman where they have never won before, including seven losses to Bob Stoops-coached Sooner teams.
Seven Points from Being 8-0
Oklahoma finds itself on the outside looking in on the CFP this year due to two losses by a combined five points. The Sooners have been their own worst enemy in those two defeats. Against TCU, they gave up a fourth-quarter pick-six and got stuffed on a critical 4th-and-1 with just over three minutes left. A missed 19-yard field goal attempt with less than four minutes to go was the dagger against Kansas State.
Oklahoma seems to be reinvigorated after their bye week, pounding Iowa State 59-14 last Saturday. The Sooner offense started fast, scoring on the second play of the game and never let up in compiling over 500 yards rushing. The defense was just as dominant, limiting the Cyclones to just 6 of 19 on third down.
Player to Watch:
Linebacker Eric Striker leads the Sooners with 5.5 sacks and will be counted on to provide pressure on Baylor QB Bryce Petty. While Petty is very effective when he has time to throw, he has shown the propensity to become rattled when hit frequently as was the case at times last year versus the Sooners as well as this year against Texas and in the Bears’ lone loss to West Virginia.
Looking Elsewhere:
If you looked at the schedule in the preseason, there’s a good chance you would have expected the Big 12 focus to be on Norman this week. That honor, however, goes to Fort Worth, Texas where #6 TCU and #7 Kansas State face off. Other than the convoluted scenario I laid out above for Baylor, the Big 12’s hopes of participation in the initial CFP could ride on the winner of this game going unscathed the rest of the way.
– Chris Doering
John Sadak and Chris Doering will have the call from Norman beginning at 11:30 AM ET. You can listen right here on WestwoodOneSports.com!