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Baylor vs. Kansas State -- THE MORNING AFTER -- Highlights, Links, Notes, Tweets

Before we get to any of the Playoff nonsense, it's important to recognize what happened last night: the Baylor Bears became back-to-back Big 12 Champions.

Jerome Miron-USA TODAY Sports

27
KANSAS ST.
(9-3, 7-2) 9/9/9
1ST 2ND 3RD 4TH F
0 14 6 7 27
14 10 14 0 38

Box ScoreQuotesNotesPhoto Gallery USA Today

Waco, Texas • Attendance: 47,934


38
BAYLOR
(11-1, 8-1) 5/5/6

I am so full of HOT TAKES about everything going on right now, but I wanted to make sure we take a moment this morning to talk a bit about what actually happened last night when Baylor beat Kansas State 38-27.

Players of the Game:

QB Bryce Petty -- 34/40 for 412 yards, 1 TD, 1 INT
RB Shock Linwood -- 18 carries for 91 yards, 1 TD
WR Antwan Goodley -- 9 catches for 116 yards, 1 TD

LB Taylor Young -- 13 tackles, 1.5 tackles for loss
LB Bryce Hager -- 12 tackles, 2 tackles for loss, sack
CB Xavien Howard -- 3 tackles, 1.5 tackles for loss, 1 sack, 1 INT

Considering the quality of opponent, last night was undoubtedly one of Petty's best 2-3 games as a QB, if not the best.  Outside of the one poor throw across his body on the interception, he was amazing.

Quick Thoughts:

I'm going to come back to update this section later when I have a bit more time.   There's a lot going on right now.

The AP Poll:

Dropped a few minutes early this morning due to the CFB Playoff Committee release at 11:45 CST, and Baylor has jumped to #4 over TCU in a somewhat shocking situation.  This doesn't mean anything for the Playoff, in all likelihood, but I do find it interesting.

The CFB Playoff:

Going into this weekend, Baylor fans knew that coming from #6, we probably needed some help among the Top 6 teams to make the CFB Playoff.  We didn't get any.  Instead, Alabama and Oregon blew out Mizzou and Arizona, respectively, FSU squeaked out a win over Georgia Tech, TCU killed Iowa State, and Ohio State blew the doors off a hapless Wisconsin team.  This wasn't good for us.

But it also probably wasn't that good for TCU, who was #3.  I've long-feared that the Big 12's lack of a Championship Game and refusal to elevate one team over another on head-to-head would come back to bite us in the butt with traditional power and media favorite Ohio State lurking around.  Somewhere in their thrashing of Wisconsin, that went from "oh, that would suck" to "OH THIS IS GOING TO SUCK," if that makes sense.  All along we've wondered how the Committee would "break the tie" between Baylor and TCU, whether by SOS, H2H, or something else.  It was going to be messy, regardless.  But what Ohio State does is give them the chance to sidestep all that for the most part and put four huge schools with huge followings in the Playoff and punt our controversy down the road, in the process punishing the Big 12 for not having a CCG and getting the matchups they want.  This is a real problem.

I feel slightly better now than I did last night -- when I said our chances were "slim to none"-- about making the CFB Playoff.  But I'll tell you this: we prewrite posts around here for big news events so we can have things up quickly.  If Baylor makes it, we're going to be surprised.

Mark Seymour's Rankings:

One last time this year before the CFB Playoff Rankings are announced:

Seymour's Top 4:

1. Oregon Ducks
2. Alabama Crimson Tide
3. Baylor Bears
4. TCU Horned Frogs

5. Ohio State Buckeyes
6. Florida State Seminoles

There you go. Hate on, haters.

The Committee's Top 4 (I'm guessing):

1. Alabama
2. Oregon
3. Florida State
4. Ohio State

5. Baylor
6. TCU

See above for my logic/fear.

LINKS LINKS LINKS LINKS LINKS LINKS

No. 5 Football Wins Big 12 Championship - Baylor Bears Official Athletic Site - BaylorBears.com
The Baylor University Bears Official Athletic Site, partner of CBS College Sports Networks, Inc. The most comprehensive coverage of Baylor Athletics on the web.

Final College Football Playoff & bowl projections, with updated schedule - SBNation.com
It's Selection Sunday. Check back right here for an updated look at the postseason picture as matchups become official. The College Football Playoff's four teams should be set by 1 p.m. ET.

College Football Playoff predictions after the final Saturday - SBNation.com
The committee's final top 25 comes out Sunday afternoon, but here's an updated set of guesses, with notes on each game of impact.

The awesome, unexpected, and meaningful of college football's Championship Week - SBNation.com
Emotions run high as we discuss the most important things of the 2014's final regular season week.

These Baylor 'GameDay' signs make ruthless Playoff case against TCU - SBNation.com
Seems Baylor fans have found an angle.

Baylor, TCU or Ohio State: Good Luck, College Football Playoff Committee | The Big Lead
Three teams. One place.

TCU, Baylor muddle college football playoff picture - CBS News
The Horned Frogs and Bears dominate at end to share Big 12 title; all of the teams at the top roll in the final weekend; top 25 CFB roundup

TWEETS TWEETS TWEETS TWEETS TWEETS TWEETS

SO MANY TWEETS.

Missions Accomplished.

So much to do!