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Bull Butter

03-10-2009, 07:57 PM

From the Big XII website...............http://www.big12sports.com/ViewArticle.dbml?DB_OEM_ID=10410&ATCLID=3688684

Knotty Problem
Release: 03/09/2009

By Wendell Barnhouse | wendell@big12sports.com
Big 12 Sports.com Correspondent
This time, no national championship was at stake. Perhaps that's why the tiebreaker to break a four-team logjam didn't spark the controversy that dominated the end of the Big 12's 2008 football season.

Kansas State, Texas, Texas A&M and Oklahoma State all finished fourth in the standings with 9-7 records. Instead of a spot in the title game, what was at stake was the No. 4 seed and a bye in the Phillips 66 Big 12 Championship this week.

Here's how Kansas State wound up as the No. 4 seed: Three of the four teams involved were Big 12 South teams. Each of those three teams were 1-1 against each other so the next tiebreaker became record against other South teams. Texas was 7-3 against South teams while OSU and A&M were 5-5.

"I had about three calls from people (Monday) about the tiebreaker," Oklahoma State coach Travis Ford said. "I still can't figure it out exactly. The conference knows a whole lot more about it than I do. I don't have any suggestions. We're the one team out of those four that beat the other three."

Breaking the tie between Kansas State and Texas was simple. The head-to-head tiebreaker was applied and the Wildcats got the edge because of their 85-81 overtime victory in Austin on Jan. 31.

The rest was simple: a head-to-head tiebreaker between Texas and Kansas State. Because Kansas State defeated Texas in the teams’ only meeting, the Wildcats earn the fourth seed and the first-round bye.

Texas A&M got the sixth seed over Oklahoma State by using the last tiebreaker before a drawing - comparing of record against the highest-ranked team(s) based on winning percentage in the opposite division. The Aggies' victory over Missouri made the difference.

"I guess (basketball's tiebreaker) is better than what they have in football," Texas coach Rick Barnes said.