Team A and B both have one loss. Team A lost to the #6 team in the country on the road by three points while Team B lost on the road to an unranked team by 14 points. Both teams are in the same conference and have similar schedules with the exception of Team A playing a ranked opponent out of conference while team B did not. Which team should be ranked higher? It would have to be Team A. TCU is team A, Baylor is team B.
Head to head matchups cannot always be considered. When comparing both teams in a vacuum it would be fair to say that Baylor is better than TCU because of their win against the Horned Frogs. However, the conversation is not which team is better of the two. The conversation is which team is better compared to every other team in the country. Using head to head would result in a never-ending game of six degrees of separation. “We are better than them because we beat this team, who beat this team, who beat them…ect.”
Let’s theorize what would happen if Missouri beats Alabama in the SEC championship game. They would both have 11-2 records and Missouri would have a win over Alabama. Alabama could still find their way in the playoffs while Missouri has no chance no matter the outcome. Alabama would still deserve a higher ranking because they would have two losses to top 25 teams, one on the road one at a neutral site. Missouri would have two losses at home against one ranked team and another team that ended the season 4-8.
No one would ever argue that Missouri is better than Alabama even though a Tigers’ win would give both teams the same record and give Mizzu the head to head advantage. So why would Baylor have an argument for a higher ranking than TCU?
It’s easy to lose sight of that when two teams are so closely ranked. However, a loss to the #6 team in the country on the road by 3 is a much better loss than losing to an unranked team by 14 on the road. That is not arguable.
