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I have no idea what's going to happen tomorrow morning with the College Football Playoff committee. With the other events of today - TCU expectedly demolishing Iowa State, Ohio State trouncing Wisconsin with yet another QB, and Florida State squeaking by yet another team - there are four teams and just two spots available. (Oregon and Alabama are obviously in, and honestly Florida State is, too. So only three and one, respectively.)
But let's not think about that right now. Your Baylor Bears just won their second straight Big 12 Conference championship. This time it is, technically, a shared title with TCU due to the ridiculous lack of a tiebreaker, but Baylor will get the conference's automatic bid to the New Year's Six bowls, if they do not make the playoff itself. If there existed a tiebreaker for the conference title, Baylor would win it. This is a big deal. Only two teams have repeated as champion, and both were Oklahoma in the same threepeat stretch from 2006 to 2008. That can never be taken away from us.
So let's get to the game. For the most part, Baylor's offense was pretty dominant over a K-State defense that is not often dominated. It was a banner day for the seniors on the offense, in their last game at home for their college careers. Bryce Petty went 34 for 40 for 412 yards, with one touchdown and one over-greedy interception. Antwan Goodley looked like the Goodley of last year, racking up nine catches for 116 yards and a TD. Levi Norwood, invisible for much of this year, had 7 for 62. Clay Fuller had a few big catches. All in all, the Bears gained nearly 600 yards against a defense ill-equipped to handle the combination of speed and physicality the Bears came to play with. If not for a really unnecessary interception in the end zone and a fourth quarter that breezed by, Baylor could have made a much bigger dent in the scoreboard.
The defense was a bag of mixed results, as it has been for stretches this year. The defensive line did an admirable job keeping contain on Jake Waters, stuffing him several times for huge stops when the team needed them most. K-State's running game was for the most part bottled up, as it has been this year. Tyler Lockett, however, went off for 14 catches for 158 yards, but never got behind the defense. He's still a legend - best of luck to him in the NFL. But the defense stiffened up at times in the red zone, holding Kansas State to two huge field goals in the third quarter while the Baylor offense responded with touchdowns. When the team needed it the most, Xavien Howard had a huge interception to end Kansas State's final drive.
Let's be sure to give all the due to this senior class, the winningest in Baylor history. Bryce Petty, Antwan Goodley, Levi Norwood, Clay Fuller, Troy Baker, Bryce Hager, and Spencer Roth have earned everything they have.
The committee can't take this away, no matter how stupid they are. Don't let them Bear fans. Enjoy this.
— BearsIllustrated.com (@baylorscout) December 7, 2014
So now let's bask in the thrill of having claimed two consecutive Big 12 titles. I speak only for myself, but there's no reason to put an asterisk next to this one, no qualifiers - we are Big 12 Champions. Again.