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Art Briles on CFB Playoff: ‘Brand Names’ kept Baylor, TCU out of Final Four

By Michael Collins

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Baylor head coach Art Briles is never one to mince words, and at this week’s Big 12 Media Days, he dropped a mini-bomb about his feelings on how the College Football Playoffs are selected.

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Speaking to reporters in Dallas at the event, Briles let everyone know that his team and probably TCU should have been selected for the playoffs, but that they didn’t have the name recognition needed for ratings.

Briles went on to even throw a few darts the way of the Playoff Selection Committee, essentially accusing them of selective cronyism.

There’s no doubt that there isn’t some truth in Briles’ statements, but you can’t help but think that the Big 12 was also hurt by the fact that they don’t have a conference championship game. That extra game and extra look by the committee went a long way to helping Alabama (12–1), Oregon (12–1), Florida State (13–0) and Ohio State (12–1) become the final four teams in.

The Baylor brand certainly has a lot more stock than it used to, as does TCU. Even Briles said that Baylor’s national brand is currently “the best it’s ever been.” Anyone who watched the Bears last season, and even for the past few years, knows how good a football team they are.

It’s easy to point the fingers at the committee, but in the end, they only chose based on what they had in front of them. A Big 12 championship game between TCU and Baylor would have certainly catapulted one of the two teams into the playoffs.

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