On "backing into" a title

Discussion in 'On The Field' started by blonthang, Nov 22, 2018.

  1. blonthang

    blonthang 2,500+ Posts

    Assuming the Horns take care of business tomorrow, Fri 11/23, as expected, they are in the Big 12 conference title game.

    Certainly, there will be many an aggy, and sportswriters and tv pundits noting that "Texas backed into the title game."

    Bull ****.

    No last minute meeting of Big 12 officials added a last minute game to anyone's schedule. No regular season results were overturned.

    At the beginning of the season the rules of engagement and the schedule for all Big 12 teams was set and agreed to.

    The title game spots aren't determined after the 1st game of the season. Or the 2nd. Or.....

    It's the results of the ENTIRE season that is the determining factor, not just the last game, or "backing into" a title game spot.

    I've heard that kind of crap of the past years, especially when there's a late season upset within a division, that automatically reorders leaders and laggards, and we hear the inevitable stupidity of "well, ... they (new leader) backed into the lead...."

    No, the teams played the games scheduled and according to the rules set before the season started.

    Last games count just as much.

    Hook 'em
     
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  2. Walking Boss

    Walking Boss 2,500+ Posts

    I agree except for the dirt burglars against us. If Texas is good and the dirt burglars win it is a huge plus on their strength of schedule and can by itself propel them to the playoffs. If Texas wins, the game wasn’t really played and it is treated as a bye week for blow-u and that bye week can propel them into the playoffs. See 45-35.
     
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  3. blonthang

    blonthang 2,500+ Posts

    Well, if it's OU v Texas, and OU wins the rematch, then good on 'em, and, though I would NOT be gruntled, they're probably in the CFP.

    The rules still apply, though with that scenario, there would be a human factor of the CFP voting on who gets in, so IMHO not quite the same as hard and fast rules of winning a division or league by preset, hard numeric-based criteria.

    Don't matter --- Neers will take care of the LandThieves in Morgantown.
     
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  4. WorsterMan

    WorsterMan SEC here we come!!

    Hope so.... that is my Thanksgiving Day wish!
     
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  5. ViperHorn

    ViperHorn 10,000+ Posts

    ou loses to Texas in the CCG and they can kiss any hope for the CFP bye-bye.
     
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  6. Vol Horn 4 Life

    Vol Horn 4 Life Good Bye To All The Rest!

    I doubt there will be such a conversation for this situation. We beat OU and if WVU loses they lost more games than us. Its pretty clear cut. There is no basis for us "backing in".
     
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  7. Statalyzer

    Statalyzer 10,000+ Posts

    I've only heard "backing in" used when a team that controlled their own destiny lost their last game and then temporarily was out of the game, and then someone they had just dropped behind also lost to put them back ahead again.
     
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  8. Mike the Texan

    Mike the Texan 250+ Posts

    Aggy is going to back into a third or fourth place SEC West title.... again.

    Really, who cares how their team gets to the title game? OU doesn't (see 2008).

    - Mike
     
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  9. dukesteer

    dukesteer 5,000+ Posts

    Backing in? Not a chance. We beat OU by three but dominated them for much of the game. We lost to WVU by one point. What is there to question? Then again, wannabe aggies will have p-envy regardless of the facts. After all, they’re ...aggies.
     
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  10. Denmark

    Denmark 500+ Posts

    How do you get those thanksgiving wishes, I didn't know there was a Turkey fairy :yippee:
     
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  11. mb227

    mb227 de Plorable

    Don't tell us you never cracked a wishbone as a kid...
     
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  12. wadster

    wadster 5,000+ Posts

    I think OU has a pretty slim chance to get into the CFP. 1st they have to beat WVU and us back to back. Then they have to have either Michigan or ND lose. Almost no chance for ND to lose. So let's say OU has a 50/50 to beat WVU and US, and Michigan has like a 50/50 chance to lose which is pretty high. You get 1/2 x 1/2 x 1/2 which gives you a 1/8 chance of making the CFP. OU's problem is they aren't better than either of the last 2 teams they play and ND and Michigan are better than the ones they play. Not a recipe for them getting to the CFP.
     
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  13. bystander

    bystander 10,000+ Posts

    Winning today and in the Big 12 Title game is not backing in. Backing in is somehow qualifying if everyone loses and you're losing too. That's not earning it.
     
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  14. mchammer

    mchammer 10,000+ Posts

  15. blonthang

    blonthang 2,500+ Posts

    I disagree. That would exactly being my point.

    The rules of who wins the title, or playoff slot, is predetermined before you start playing any game.

    Doesn't matter WHEN you win or lose, or when others win or lose.

    It's the final, bottom line accumulation of the season whether you win all the early ones and lose all the late ones. Or lose all the early ones and win all the late ones. The games all count the same no matter when you play them.

    I guess the term "backing into" a slot is just used as some slight to a team that "wins" at the end of the season and therefore gets a slot they're "not really entitled to" or something like that.

    Maybe it's my jaded view of sportswriters and pundits who make it sound like it's not earned.

    P.S., note Texas will be playing KU today; both WVU and OU already have that "W" on their records for this year. But WVU and OU haven't played each other until today. Texas has already played them both (league leaders, like Texas), splitting those games.
     
    Last edited: Nov 23, 2018
  16. chango

    chango 2,500+ Posts

    You’re arguing against a scenario you made up.
     
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  17. longhorn47

    longhorn47 500+ Posts

    Even with a W over WVU, the only way OU gets in the CFP is if the earth opens up under LA Memorial Coliseum tomorrow and swallows up both the Irish and Trojans
     
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  18. Bill in Sinton

    Bill in Sinton 5,000+ Posts

    In 1970 Nebraska backed into the AP National Championship (this was long before playoffs). Early in the season they were tied by USC which hurt them but USC went on to lose several games. Ohio State, Texas and Notre Dame were the top 3teams but late in the season USC upset Notre Dame who went on to beat Texas in the cotton Bowl and Stanford upset Ohio State in the Rose Bowl. Nebraska won the Orange Bowl and thus backed into it.
     
  19. Sangre Naranjada

    Sangre Naranjada 10,000+ Posts

    Dare I hope?
     
  20. zuckercanyon

    zuckercanyon 2,500+ Posts

    Blazing saddles reference?
     
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  21. HornyBill

    HornyBill 25+ Posts

    I'd like to see OU play Alabama. With their crap defense, the score might by 84-17
     
  22. ShAArk92

    ShAArk92 1,000+ Posts

    not terribly concerned with what someone else thinks of our program.

    I'm more concerned with what OUR program thinks of our program.

    Demarco Murray said it himself yesterday ... ~"when Texas is strong, college football is strong."

    someone help me with the quote, but that was the gist of it.
     
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  23. ShAArk92

    ShAArk92 1,000+ Posts

    IIRC, he made this statement late in the 3rd quarter.
     
  24. stanhin

    stanhin 5,000+ Posts

    Suppose OU had beaten Texas by 50 at the State Fair and then, at the end of the season, all OU had to do to make it to the championship game was to beat Kansas in Norman since OU would own the tiebreaker over Texas. OU inexplicably loses to Kansas and Texas gets in. That would be what I would call backing in to the championship game. That is not what happened, however. We aren't backing in--we rolled in ahead of OU. ;)
     
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  25. horninchicago

    horninchicago 10,000+ Posts

    Not to derail this, but when I heard Murray, my initial reaction was a roll of the eyes. He was surprisingly objective, and as you point out, complimentary of Texas at times, during the game. I was impressed.
     
  26. Statalyzer

    Statalyzer 10,000+ Posts

    Maybe, but I've only heard it for a team that loses, but then still gets in because somebody else loses too - like if we had lost to Kansas but still made the CCG because of the way the other games worked out.
     
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  27. mchammer

    mchammer 10,000+ Posts

    Can we all agree that beating OU is the best way to end this thread?
     
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  28. dukesteer

    dukesteer 5,000+ Posts

    Did we back into the Rose Bowl against Michigan in 2005?

    (Basically, who cares?)

    But realistically, only someone from a wannabe school with a distorted and delusional perspective* would even raise this question.

    *Hmmm. Wonder who this might be?
     
  29. nashhorn

    nashhorn 5,000+ Posts

    Ala sure hates they lost their conference then backed into the championship.
     
  30. ProdigalHorn

    ProdigalHorn 10,000+ Posts

    I haven't heard of anyone defining what we did as "backing into" the title game. The league picks the top two teams, and we ended up as one of them based on our record. If we had lost two straight to end the year and some fluke loss by another team had allowed us to go despite playing poorly down the stretch, then you could probably make that argument. Since we closed out the year with three straight wins, I don't see that being the case here.
     
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