If case you forgot if OU would have beaten Okie St they would have played Colorado instead of texass, OU only loss was the 20-10 Stunz to Crouch TD pass..
If Okie st doesn’t beat OU, Ou could have been Big 12 champs by vertue of beating Colorado..
But they didn't beat Oklahoma St and they fell in the rankings from 3 to eventually 11. That has nothing to do with getting a break by not playing in the CCG. They caught no breaks, they went to the Cotton Bowl and played a 3 or 4 loss Arkansas team.
Florida probably fits what you are trying to describe better. They lost to Tennessee, the last week of the season, fell from 2 to 6, then when Tennessee lost to LSU, moved up to 5.
Texas would have made the BCS Title Game as a non-division champion had Oklahoma qualified for the CCG and lost to Colorado. That is the argument that should have been made.
Had Oklahoma beaten Oklahoma State, Oklahoma would have been in the Big 12 title game. That much is agreed upon and in line with the tiebreaker rules (OU and Texas each 7-1, OU won head-to-head). The rankings would have looked approximately like this going into the 01 Dec 2001 weekend:
(approximating the BCS rankings)
1. Miami (11-0; no CCG, vs. VT)
2. Florida (9-1, vs. Tennessee in a ppd. game for the SEC East title, winner plays LSU the following week in the SEC CCG)
3. Oklahoma (11-1 in this scenario; vs. Colorado in Big 12 CCG)
4. Texas (10-1 in this scenario; season complete)
5. Nebraska (11-1; season complete)
6. Oregon (9-1; no CCG, vs. Oregon State)
7. Tennessee (9-1; at Florida in a ppd. game for the SEC East title, winner plays LSU the following week in SEC CCG)
8. Colorado (9-2; vs. Oklahoma in Big 12 CCG)
9. Illinois (10-1; season complete)
The following results from the 01 Dec 2001 weekend...
Miami over VT
Tennessee over Florida
Oregon over Oregon State
Plus, for the purposes of the hypothetical to show a non-division winner in the BCS Title Game...
Colorado over Oklahoma
The approximate BCS rankings after the 01 Dec 2001 weekend:
1. Miami (12-0; season complete)
2. Tennessee (10-1; vs. LSU in SEC CCG)
3. Texas (10-1 in this scenario; season complete)
4. Nebraska (11-1; season complete)
5. Colorado (10-2; season complete)
6. Oregon (10-1; season complete)
7. Oklahoma (11-2 in this scenario; season complete)
8. Florida (9-2; season complete)
9. Illinois (10-1; season complete)
I put Tennessee at #2 because that is where they landed after beating Florida in that ranking.
I put Oklahoma ahead of Florida because I think the pollsters would have moved them down in the same order, but for this exercise it doesn't matter.
THEN... Tennessee lost to LSU on 08 Dec 2001.
That moves TEXAS, a non-division winner, into the BCS Title Game.
The rankings would have approximately been (conference champions in
bold)...
1. Miami (12-0, Big East Champ)
2. Texas (10-1, Big 12 South 2nd Place)
3. Nebraska (11-1, Big 12 North 2nd Place)
4. Colorado (10-2, Big 12 Champ)
5. Oregon (10-1, Pac-10 Champ)
6. Oklahoma (11-2, Big 12 CCG Loser)
7. Florida (9-2, SEC East 2nd Place)
8. Tennessee (10-2, SEC CCG Loser)
9. Illinois (10-1, Big Ten Champ)
10. Stanford (9-2, T-2 Pac-10 with UW and WSU)
11. Maryland (10-1, ACC Champ)
12. Washington State (9-2, T-2 Pac-10 with UW and Stanford)
13. LSU (9-3, SEC Champ)
14. South Carolina (8-3, T-3 SEC East with UGA)
15. Washington (8-3, T-2 Pac-10 with WSU and Stanford)
I put Tennessee behind Florida because they dropped behind the Gators after losing the SEC CCG to LSU.
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Now, had an 8-team playoff been in place that year with 6 AQs and 2 at-large teams, this would have been the field...
1. Miami (12-0, Big East Champ)
2. Texas (10-1, Big 12 South 2nd Place)
3. Nebraska (11-1, Big 12 North 2nd Place)
4. Colorado (10-2, Big 12 Champ)
5. Oregon (10-1, Pac-10 Champ)
9. Illinois (10-1, Big Ten Champ)
11. Maryland (10-1, ACC Champ)
13. LSU (9-3, SEC Champ)
Both at-large teams would have been non-division winners.
Here's your bracket if no seeding priority is given to winning your conference:
Game 1:
#13 LSU (9-3, 8 seed) at
#1 Miami (12-0, 1 seed)
Game 2:
#5 Oregon (10-1, 5 seed) at
#4 Colorado (10-2, 4 seed)
Game 3:
#9 Illinois (10-1, 6 seed) at #3 Nebraska (11-1, 3 seed)
Game 4:
#11 Maryland (10-1, 7 seed) at #2 Texas (10-1, 2 seed)
And the bracket if seeding priority is given to conference champions (ie guaranteeing CCG victory is a pre-requisite to hosting a first-round game):
Game 1: #3 Nebraska (11-1, 8 seed) at
#1 Miami (12-0, 1 seed)
Game 2:
#11 Maryland (10-1, 5 seed) at
#9 Illinois (10-1, 4 seed)
Game 3:
#13 LSU (9-3, 6 seed) at
#5 Oregon (10-1, 3 seed)
Game 4: #2 Texas (10-1, 7 seed) at
#4 Colorado (10-2, 2 seed)