The agony continues for Texas. One of its potential lifelines failed to vote Sunday in the Harris poll used to determine the BCS standings.
The immediate question is: Would that person have made a difference in the narrow BCS difference between Texas and Oklahoma? Yes and no.
Yes, it could have closed the gap between the Sooners and 'Horns, but not enough to push Texas into the Big 12 Championship Game. Oklahoma is in that game because it was the highest-ranked of the three teams tied for the Big 12 South lead.
Harris has a set of complicated checks and balances to prevent voter abuse. But let's go best-case scenario for Texas: Even if the tardy Harris member had voted Texas No. 1 and left Oklahoma completely off his/her ballot, the Sooners still would have prevailed in the three-way Big 12 South tiebreaker.
But only by 0.010 of a point.
Feel better, 'Horns?
"It would not have made a difference," said Eric Stone, senior research director for Harris. "That made us all happy."
Stone would not identify the voter saying he/she did not participate because of "personal reasons". One other time this season only 113 of the 114 voters participated, Stone said.
The Harris poll is comprised mostly of media members, former coaches, administrators and players.
"The beauty of our panel is the size of it," Stone said. "It really minimizes the impact of any one person."
Sunday's final margin in allowing OU to reach the Big 12 Championship Game was .0128. If that margin holds through Saturday's games it would be the second-closest number in deciding a BCS title-game participant. In 2006, No. 2 Florida beat out No. 3 Michigan by .0101 of a point.
The BCS standings are compiled with one-third input each from the six computer indexes, the coaches poll and the Harris poll. Texas made a major push in both human polls Sunday but fell short in the computers.
In the Harris poll, Texas went from being ranked No. 4, 21 points behind Oklahoma, to No. 3 and six points ahead. In the coaches poll, Oklahoma remained second but lost all but one point of its 42-point lead over Texas. The 'Horns moved from fourth to third in the coaches.
A big criticism of both human polls is their lack of transparency. The coaches and Harris don't release their ballots until after the final BCS standings on Sunday.
If this exchange Saturday night at the Oklahoma-Oklahoma State game is any indication, there is a reason for the lack of confidence in the system. Daily Oklahoman columnist Berry Tramel ran into Harris voter Pat Quinn. Quinn is a former sports information director at Oklahoma State. Tramel asked Quinn about the Texas-Oklahoma issue.
"Oh I don't know," Tramel quoted Quinn as saying. "Doesn't really matter."
Why?
"I think Alabama and Penn State will probably play for the national championship," Quinn said. "They're the only undefeated teams, aren't they?"
Uh, no.
