I am fairly certain the Big 12 has it where the loser of the conference championship gets the Sugar Bowl if the champion is in the CFP. The Big Ten does not have that stipulation, so that's the difference.
Many other conferences have an agreement where they work with the bowls to slot teams for the best possible matchup however the Big 12 selection process is entirely up to the bowls(at least it is written that way) and appears to have previously played out that way as well.
Yeah. Baylor had trouble filling their 45,000 seat stadium with their team in the driver's seat for the Big 12 title. I'm sure they would take OU if they can.
I don't think it will be OU based on the following:
- When the conference champion is unavailable, the bowls invite the next-best team from that conference.
- OU doesn't have a game this weekend and there are only a few games that involve teams ahead of them within striking distance. Yes, Baylor may be one of those teams who lose ahead of them but will they literally swap them?
Ultimately, it doesn't matter to me because the final result is still the same. 3 teams from the Big 12 are ahead of us, 2 of them will be in NY6 bowls and the 3rd will get the Alamo leaving the fine folks at Cheez It to pick the Cyclones.
- to date during the College Football Playoff era (2014–2020 football seasons), only 9 of the 84 teams selected by the committee have been ranked lower than 12th.