Iron Mike & The CFB Playoff Selection Committee

I come to praise Mike Holder, and bury the Big 12. The conference needs a playoff representative, and Bob Bowlsby said it will more than likely be a current Big 12 athletic director. For the good of the fly over ten,  it shouldn't be our guy, but OkState might be helped by having him and his unbending integrity drafted.

The college football playoff committee requires a political touch, and a polite willingness to say you believe things that make it into the neighborhood of things you might believe, given enough time, money and brown booze. Get it? That willingness to stand up in a room and say losses to Virginia Tech are more respectable than losses to Baylor are what make a committee member. It’s also why Mike Holder has no business representing the Big 12 on the committee.

Mike Holder is a man who is honest to a fault. In 2014 in a world where athletic directors are expected to operate by a media defined playbook, he admits when a contract is a mistake, peels back the curtain on scheduling and is openly critical of our cowardly conference neighbors. A man with the integrity to apologize to the Big 12 not for what OkState never did, but for what a former Sooner Illustrated writer accused us of doing is simply too principled  to represent the Big 12 in a either or situation. If Mike Holder does not believe, he will not advocate. We should commend him for it.

Which is also why, long term, all Oklahoma State fans should want coach Holder on the committee. That he is a dynamic and tenacious fundraiser the university has never seen before should be obvious to all by now. It’s well known Boone Pickens football stadium exists because a Texas billionaire trusts Mike with his money. Less popularized is the world class golf course that was built debt free with lots of donor money and limited athletic department support.

College football realignment is not over. Sure, we signed a grant of rights and Mike Holder is older but Mike Holder builds relationships and his passion is undeniable. He knows how to read a room and almost got us into the alleged PAC16. Often called Iron Mike in college golf circles because of his will power I couldn't dream of a better person to be in a room full of power brokers with ties to Oklahoma State. Just as long as it's only Oklahoma State he as to worry about.