Big 12 tiebreaker procedures and possibilities

With five teams still in the mix to play for a Big 12 championship, the possibility remains that both division titles in the Big 12 could be settled by tiebreakers at the end of this week.

Below is a look at those scenarios and how those ties would be broken in information passed along by officials at the Big 12 office:
 
South Division: Should Texas A&M defeat Texas Thursday and Oklahoma defeat Oklahoma State Saturday, the South will finish in a three-way tie as the Aggies, the Sooners and the Cowboys would each be 6-2. In this case, Big 12 rules state that the BCS Standings would be used to break a three-way tie.
 
The BCS Standings released Nov. 28 would be used to break the three-way tie and decide the South Division representative in the Big 12 Championship game. The team ranked highest in the BCS Standings would be the South Division representative.
 
However, there is a change to the tie-breaker rule that could bring in head-to-head results. If separated by one place in the BCS Standings, the Big 12 team ranked second could become Division representative in the championship game if it won the regular-season head-to-head meeting with the team ranked higher in the BCS Standings.
 
North Division: Nebraska owns the head-to-head tie-breaker over Missouri by virtue of its 31-17 victory over the Tigers on Oct. 30.
 
Here is what needs to happen for the five teams in contention for Big 12 Division titles:
 
Missouri: Needs to beat Kansas and for Colorado to beat Nebraska. That would make the Tigers North Division champions.
 
Nebraska: Can clinch the North Division with a victory over Colorado or a Missouri loss to Kansas.
 
Oklahoma: The Sooners need to beat Oklahoma State Saturday in Stillwater. If Texas beats Texas A&M Thursday, an OU victory over Oklahoma State would give the Sooners the South Division title
 
Oklahoma State: Can clinch the South Division title with a victory over Oklahoma. A loss to the Sooners plus a loss by Texas A&M would put Oklahoma and Oklahoma State into a first-place tie but Oklahoma would have the head-to-head tiebreaker edge.
The Cowboys would fall into a three-way tie for first with a loss to the Sooners and a Texas A&M victory over Texas.
 
Texas A&M: Would finish 6-2 with a victory at Texas Thursday. If Oklahoma beats Oklahoma State, that would create a three-way tie in the South Division that would be broken as outlined above.
 
Big 12 three-way tie-breaker rule: If three or more teams are tied, steps 1 through 7 will be followed until a determination is made. If only two teams remain tied after any step, the winner of the game between the two tied teams shall be the representative.
1. The records of the three teams will be compared against each other
2. The records of the three teams will be compared within their division
3. The records of the three teams will be compared against the next highest placed teams in their division in order of finish (4, 5 and 6)
4. The records of the three teams will be compared against all common conference opponents.
5. The highest ranked team in the first Bowl Championship Series poll following the completion of Big 12 regular season conference play shall be the representative in the Big 12 Championship Game, unless two of the tied teams are ranked within one spot of the other in the BCS poll. In this case, the head-to-head results of the top two ranked tied teams shall determine the representative in the Big 12 Championship Game.
6. The team with the best overall winning percentage (excluding exempted games) shall be the representative.
7. The representative will be chosen by draw.

_ Jimmy Burch

Comments

[MLDTEXAS]

Okie U will not beat Oklahoma State. It will be A&M to the Cotton, Okie U to the Insight, Nebraska to the Alamo and Oklahoma State to the BCS.

[Six Gun Sam]

If oSu wins Bedlam and TAMU beats Texas, the Aggies will finish in 2nd place in the South.

If oSu plays and beats Nebraska in the Title Game, TAMU has a righteous claim to 2nd place in the entire conference.

If the Squatters win Bedlam and play the Corn Heads in the CCG, the Ag's can lay claim to beating both CCG teams but due to head to head losses against both oSu and Missou, the best the Ags can finish in the Big 12 is 5th.

Let's see...

On one hand, 5th place, the Texas Bowl, and a lame claim... and on the other, 2nd place, the Cotton Bowl, but no lame claim...

Who oh who to cheer for? Ba dahhh!

[Doc]

Every...every...Aggie fears what is coming next...

A&M is having an awesome year. Texas is in the dumper. So, as Aggie kharma dictates, Texas will win tomorrow night.

[Rob]

Am I missing something? According to Rule 5, if there is a three-way tie with the teams ranked 1, 14, and 15 in the BCS, then "two of the tied teams are ranked within one spot of the other in the BCS poll" (Nos. 14 and 15). In that case, the winner is determined by "the head-to-head results of the top two ranked tied teams" (Nos. 1 and 14). If 1 lost to 14, then 14 goes to the Big 12 championship, and the BCS No. 1 can't even play for its own conference. Of course this was proposed by Texas. Morons.

[Bill]

The only explanation for Rob's thinking is he has to an Aggie.