I was talking about the basketball season today with a friend and posed a simple hypothetical:
Would you feel differently about this season if--in an alternate universe--we had beaten Baylor and lost to Michigan State?
The Baylor game was .3 seconds away from being a victory and remains probably the most frustrating loss of the season. If these results were reversed, Texas would still be 21-6, but would instead have a 8-4 conference record. This would put them in a tie for 3rd in the Big 12, along with A&M and Missouri, and only one game out of 2nd place.
Additionally, by losing to MSU, Texas never would have reached the #1 ranking, which would have instead gone to Kentucky. The epic collapse that is constantly discussed on every broadcast would have been mitigated by the home win over Baylor, and we would be 5-3 over our last 8 conference games.
Even with this alternate universe, Texas would still be a disappointing team, but just switching those 2 games seems to place the season in a different context. Obviously, we cant change anything about the season, but the interesting part of this hypothetical is that it remains entirely plausible based on how those games went.
Thoughts?