Three Tribes: Happy Sooner Fans, Angry Longhorn Fans & Sad Football Fans

You can’t escape tribal behavior - it’s everywhere.  Often, what makes one tribe happy will make another one angry.  This happened over the weekend, but on a very large scale.  And it’s effect can be seen Nationwide.

Here’s the deal:

The Oklahoma Sooner football team and the Texas Longhorn football team tied for first place in the Big 12 South conference.  Each team has a win/loss record of 11-1 and are tied with conference records of 7-1.  During the regular season, Texas defeated the Sooners on a neutral field.  Let me repeat that, Texas defeated the Sooners on a neutral field.  But here’s where it becomes goofy, also tied for first place is Texas Tech.  According to Big 12 rules, a 3-way tie like this is broken by the BCS (Bowl Championship Series).  The BCS happen to have the Sooners ranked higher than the Longhorns.

The end result is that the Oklahoma Sooners win the Big 12 South and are playing for the Big 12 Title and possibly a National Title.  If you’re in the Longhorn Tribe, you’re quite angry today as you watch a team you defeated (and tied for first place in the Big 12 South) placed ahead of you, .  Anyone with half a brain can understand why so many Longhorn fans are upset.  If you’re in the Sooner Tribe, you’re elated (and lucky) today as your team has magically leaped over a team it couldn’t defeat - to play for the Big 12 Title and a National Title.

Did I mention the sad football fans tribe?  Yes, that’s my tribe.  Today, most of the people in my tribe are sad to see a big asterisk placed on the National Title (once again).   

So, what’s the “tribal point”?  Fairness is a big deal in our culture - particularly in sports.  If you’re making policies that could have a major tribal impact in the future - you would be wise to work out a solution that will be perceived as “fair” for the majority of the tribe -  otherwise, your “solution” might create a bigger problem - a tribal problem.

PS  The best solution to this problem would have been to take the two highest BCS teams and pick the team that won head-to-head - the Texas Longhorns.  Anyone with half a brain understands that head-to-head competition is always a better way to resolve these disputes than a goofy rule.  Let’s hope the angry tribe and sad tribe can unite and fix this.