Big 12 national football title path is difficult, especially for Oklahoma State

With Saturday’s results, the Big 12 championship looks like a three-team race among Oklahoma, Oklahoma State and West Virginia. In the group’s one meeting, the Cowboys held serve at home against the Mountaineers. The drama builds for the Sooners, who play both in their final two games.

It’s fair to say that if the conference is to have a team reach the College Football Playoff it would come from this triumvirate, but a Big 12 path to the national semifinals is complicated and difficult.

For starters, West Virginia is the only Big 12 team with one loss. To be part of the CFP, the Mountaineers probably would need to win out and be measured against other one-loss teams.

The Sooners have two losses but possess a quality encouraged and valued by the selection committee, a solid nonconference schedule. Losses to Houston and Ohio State blot Oklahoma’s resume, but the Sooners, as conference champion, would probably receive strong consideration compared with other two-loss teams, especially non-champions.

Then there is Oklahoma State, seemingly the longest shot of the group. The Cowboys picked up a quality victory on Saturday, scoring 15 points in the final 8 minutes to shoot past Kansas State in Manhattan.

The outcome pushed Oklahoma State to 5-1 in league play and 7-2 overall, and even if the Cowboys won out, craziness on a major scale would need to occur to open the path.

But what if Oklahoma State were 8-1 overall? The Cowboys would own the best record in the Big 12, could be the league’s top-ranked team and with a tie-breaker over West Virginia in their pocket would be the league champion by winning out.

If other CFP contenders owned a similar record, a one-loss Oklahoma State might have an argument for inclusion.

But based on a technicality, Oklahoma State heads into its final three games with two losses. Remember what happened on Sept. 10?

With the Cowboys leading Central Michigan, quarterback Mason Rudolph attempted to kill the game’s final 4 seconds by deliberately throwing the ball out of bounds on fourth down. He was penalized for intentional grounding, and with a final snap from midfield, Central scored on a Hail Mary and lateral to win 30-27.

The play should never have occurred because the rule was misinterpreted. A game can’t end on a live-ball penalty, except when the penalty involves loss of down, like intentional grounding.

Oklahoma State lost on a play that should never have happened. The officiating crew and the replay crew, which could have stepped in with the proper interpretation, were suspended.

But the score went in the books, and the Cowboys took a loss that damaged their perception. They dropped from the AP poll, returning only last week. They’re No. 18 in the most recent CFP poll and should climb spots when the next ranking is announced on Tuesday.

Any Big 12 team in the playoff seems like a long shot shot today. But of the contenders, Oklahoma State has the longest haul, one made more difficult by the events in the second week of the season.

This story was originally published November 6, 2016 at 11:25 AM with the headline "Big 12 national football title path is difficult, especially for Oklahoma State."