Report: Big 12 Tiebreaker Rules Set to be Clarified, Would Help Oklahoma State

It appears as if logic will reign supreme in the Big 12 tiebreakers after all.

According to a report from Sellout Crowd’s Berry Tramel, the Big 12 on Wednesday will present a clarification on the tiebreaker rules that would benefit Oklahoma State.

The talk following OSU’s 45-3 loss to UCF on Saturday has involved what would happen should OSU, Oklahoma and Kansas State be tied for second in the Big 12? Who would go to Arlington? Logic would point to Oklahoma State because the Cowboys are 2-0 against the other two teams. But poor wording in the tiebreakers left the door open for plenty of confusion to creep in.

Here is the incredibly confusing wording of the first tiebreaker for multiple tied teams:

“Head-to-head (best cumulative win percentage in games among the tied teams). If not, every tied team has played each other, go to step 2.”

What does that even mean?

Well, people started to wonder if it meant that the OSU-OU-KSU scenario would be null and void because OU and K-State won’t play this season. But in reality, it doesn’t matter if OU and K-State did play each other. The winner of that game would still just be 1-1 in the head-to-head format compared to OSU’s 2-0.

There is still some football to be played, though. After two more weeks of games, OSU, OU and K-State might be elsewhere along the Big 12 standings. Iowa State could beat Texas this week and throw another wrench into things. A lot could still happen. But should the Cowboys, Sooners and Wildcats all be tied at 7-2 at the end of this, it appears it would favor the Pokes.

So, it seems as if the logical thing is going to happen should that tiebreaker scenario take place, but it sure looks bad on the Big 12’s part that it needs to clarify its own tiebreakers. What’s happening is right. How we all got here is questionable.