Weighing in late Saturday night on his football team’s case to crash the college-football playoff over Texas Christian, Baylor coach Art Briles asked a sideline reporter, “What country do we live in, America?” Well, as a matter of fact we do. And Sunday, first the playoff committee honored a fundamental American concept — what have you done for me lately? — and penned Ohio State into the final slot in its playoff bracket. That left not only Baylor, but TCU, without a dance partner for the playoff and made for a lot of backbiting and second-guessing in the Big 12, the only Power Five conference not represented. Alabama, top-seeded, will play Ohio State in the Sugar Bowl, matching Nick Saban’s playbook against Urban Meyer’s on Jan. 1. No. 2 Oregon gets third-seeded Florida State in the Rose Bowl the same day in a pairing of this year’s presumed Heisman Trophy winner, Marcus Mariota, against last year’s, Jameis Winston. The day felt a little like Selection Sunday, without the capital letters, and without Seth Greenberg explaining why Virginia Tech should be in the NCAA men’s basketball tournament. Until now, we’ve never had such a playoff determination at the highest level of college football, and the committee immediately wrestled with another first: The BCS era had never seen a team make a closing argument like Ohio State did, winning 59-0 in the Big Ten title game against air — no wait, that was Wisconsin. The Buckeyes thus edged in from their No. 5 perch the week before, while TCU dropped from No. 3 to sixth and Baylor couldn’t make the telling dent it needed, even in beating No. 9 Kansas State…
Continue Reading: Ohio State elevates past Baylor, TCU, leaves Big 12 fuming
