By: Ryan Moreland (@ryanmoreland)
The Wild West Conference is living up to the name. A potential conference championship in Week 7, a possible tie at the top spot, and a tight race for third. Before we unpack this conference race, let’s take a quick moment to refresh our minds on how the playoffs work.
How to Make the Playoffs
The top three teams from each conference will automatically earn a playoff spot. After that, there will be a league-wide vote on who the last four teams should be. If there is a tie within the top three teams, the following tiebreakers will be used (in order) to break the tie.
| Order | Tiebreaker |
| 1 | Conference Record |
| 2 | Head-to-Head |
| 3 | Record vs common conference opponents |
| 4 | Point differential vs common conference opponents |
| 5 | Record vs common overall opponents |
| 6 | Point differential vs common overall opponents |
| 7 | Overall record |
| 8 | Overall point differential |
Big XII Standings
| Rank | Team | Overall Record | Conference Record |
| 1 | Texas | 4-2 | 3-0 |
| 2 | West Virginia | 4-2 | 2-1 |
| 3 | Cincinnati | 4-2 | 2-1 |
| 4 | Baylor | 2-4 | 1-2 |
| 5 | Texas A&M | 2-4 | 1-2 |
| 6 | Colorado | 2-4 | 0-3 |
Texas holds on to first place, but there is a big game on the horizon. The Longhorns will host Cincinnati this week. If Texas wins that game, they will not only clinch a playoff spot, but they will win the Big XII Conference Championship. Texas could lose to Cincinnati and still clinch a playoff game this week if Texas A&M were to lose.
West Virginia and Cincinnati come into the week tied, but WVU holds the head-to-head tiebreaker.
The Mountaineers will head to College Station this week to take on Texas A&M. If WVU beats the Aggies they will punch their ticket into the playoffs.
Cincinnati will also punch their ticket with a win this week. However, a Bearcat win over Texas could create a mess at the top of the Big XII. If that were to happen, (and West Virginia wins their game) then Texas, Cincinnati, and West Virginia would all be tied for first and caught in a win-triangle. This means the tiebreaker would be points against common conference opponents. Texas has a significant advantage if that were to happen. The Longhorns have a plus-92 point differential in conference play. Cincinnati is plus-41 and West Virginia is -14.
Baylor and Texas A&M are also tied right now, but Baylor holds the head-to-head tiebreaker.
Baylor is still alive in the race for an automatic bid and still control their destiny. If the Bears beat Colorado and West Virginia in their next two games, they would jump WVU in the standings (assuming it’s a two-way tie). If the Bears lose and West Virginia wins this week, Baylor will be mathematically eliminated from automatic bid contention.
Texas A&M is also still alive. If they beat West Virginia they could take over the #3 spot this week. If the Aggies win both games (and Texas loses to Cincinnati) Texas A&M could get as high as second place in the conference. However, if Texas A&M loses this week they will be eliminated from automatic bid contention.
Colorado still has a chance, but they need a lot of help. First off, Colorado needs to win both of their remaining games. They also need Texas to beat Cincinnati this week and they need Texas A&M to lose both of their remaining games. If all of that were to happen, then Colorado would sneak in as the third seed. However, Colorado will be mathematically eliminated if they lose, Cincinnati beats Texas, or Texas A&M wins another game.
