Even when Big 12 gets a nationally relevant win, it manages to lose perception battle

Some entities or people just can't seem to win for losing. That appears to be the fate of the Big 12 as the conference tries desperately to change its national reputation.

Saturday night in Provo, Utah, the conference should have had a feather-in-its-cap moment when No. 8 BYU took down No. 2 Notre Dame 28-24 in a thrilling nationally televised game. However, two officiating blunders will forever taint that victory and give all of the national talking heads a reason to discount the Big 12's big accomplishment.

First, the officiating crew decided not to call a pass interference penalty against BYU on the final play of the game. With Notre Dame throwing into the end zone from the Cougars' eight-yard line to try to pull out the win, there was a ton of contact between BYU defensive back Evan Johnson and ND receiver Jaden Greathouse.

Though it was a tough play to officiate, there probably should have been a flag thrown. Replays show that Johnson did restrict Greathouse's right arm as the two jostled for position, and by the letter of the law, that warranted a flag.

However, those types of no-calls happen every week in college football. That's especially true at the end of games when the outcome comes down to one play. Often, whether we agree with it or not, officials are hesitant to throw a flag on a game-deciding play because they don't want to be accused of taking the game into their own hands.

So if the no-call on the last play had been the only controversy, then the Big 12 would have no real problem on its hands. However, that isn't the reality the conference faces on Sunday morning.

After the game, the conference released an official statement that said that there was actually one second left on the official game clock when Notre Dame's final pass hit the turf. Therefore, the Fighting Irish were robbed of one final play to try to win the game.

As a result of this clock mismanagement by the Big 12 officiating crew, the focus of this game is no longer about the Big 12's best team beating one of the National Championship favorites. This bungled situation will erase all of the good that the conference should have earned from this monumental win.

If anything, the Irish are now painted as sympathetic victims who were cheated out of one final chance to prevail. Meanwhile, the Big 12 is being painted as a crooked villain who had to finagle the clock just to get its top team a victory.

This was supposed to be the conference's shot at earning national respect. Playoff contenders like Texas Tech and Utah were counting on a BYU win to boost the odds that the conference would get more than one team into the playoff field for the first time.

Now, though, the story isn't about whether the Big 12 deserves respect. In fact, most national experts are saying the conference should be embarrassed by how it handled the end of the game when there wasn't even a review to see if time remained on the clock.

What's more, this development now gives Notre Dame an excuse that could slide them into the playoff as a two-loss team. Remember, on November 7 in South Bend, the Irish still have to play Miami, which will likely be the new No. 1 team in the nation when the next polls are released.

Should the Irish lose that game and finish the season 10-2, they will not have a win on their resume that justifies a playoff spot. In that scenario, their best win would be over SMU, which is currently just 24th in the rankings.

However, the selection committee now has an easy way to slide Notre Dame into the field as a two-loss team. They can point to the controversy in Provo and say that the Irish's loss to the Cougars was tainted and that they aren't weighing it as heavily as they would if there had been no clock issue. That talking point is going to make the rounds if Notre Dame is on the playoff bubble.

What's more, if Notre Dame gets into the playoff as a two-loss team, it will likely be the Big 12 that takes it in the shorts as a result. If the Big 12 runner-up has one or two losses, that team will get passed over for a two-loss Notre Dame team. That's what the television executives will want, so that's what will happen.

Keep in mind that if the Irish finish in the top 12 of the selection committee's rankings this year, they are contractually guaranteed a playoff birth. So don't be shocked to see a two-loss Irish team ranked 12th, and the Big 12 title game loser ranked 13th in the final polls.

Should that scenario unfold, there will be no outcry. No one will talk about how the Big 12 got cheated. That's because the narrative will forever be that the Big 12 cheated Notre Dame in Provo. So even when the Big 12 wins, it finds a way to lose.

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