The Big 12 and the BCS -- Though not what you're probably thinking

We already know that Texas Tech is the discerning pirate's college football program of choice. You can now add anarchists to that list. Because if Red Raiders beat the Longhorns this Saturday in Lubbock, all hell could break loose in the Big 12 South.

I could spend 1,000 words breaking down all the scenarios, or I could just link to this handy Big 12 South flowchart, which for the moment I'm assuming is the work-product of Stuart Mandel.

If Texas wins, things are fairly simple. The Longhorns must defeat Baylor and Texas A&M at home (should be no problem) and Kansas on the road (challenging, but less daunting after Tech's demolition of the Jayhawks last week). A Longhorn victory is a vote for tradition, stability and a BCS Championship game featuring two-thirds of the Texas/Bama/Penn State triumvirate and a late-60s/early-70s type vibe.

A Red Raider win, however, thrusts the Big 12, nay the entire BCS, into Mad Max territory. Every scenario on the left side of that chart leads to an interesting scenario, the most juicy of which are the two three-way ties highlighted in blue towards the bottom of the chart.

One scenario involves Texas, Texas Tech and Oklahoma State. The other swaps OSU for Oklahoma. Both involve each team having one loss, in-division, to one of the other two teams in the tie. Why is this relevant? Well, check out the Big 12 tiebreaker procedure:

1. The records of the three teams will be compared against each other
2. The records of the three teams will be compared within their division
3. The records of the three teams will be compared against the next highest placed teams in their division in order of finish (4, 5 and 6)
4. The records of the three teams will be compared against all common conference opponents;
5. The highest ranked team in the first Bowl Championship Series Poll following the completion of Big 12 regular season conference play shall be the representative

All three teams would be tied on points one through four. That would bring us to the fifth tiebreaker: BCS standings. That's right, the BCS could actually have a hand in determining a conference champion.

Now, this is not a uniquely Big 12 thing -- both the ACC and SEC have the BCS factor in somewhere in their divisional tiebreaking guidelines. But this year is the first time that I can remember being so tantalizingly close to this actually happening. The two scenarios are realistic and involve only a few variables.

I'm giddy because I love when such scenarios point out the relative fragility of "the system," leading us to question how it can be improved. I won't elaborate or use the P-word, here, but I'm sure that in the context of a BCS discussion you catch my drift.

Bottom line: If Texas Tech wins, the BCS standings become of vital importance to the Big 12 Conference race. Pirates and anarchists are rooting for this. And this Saturday night, so will I.