COMMENTARY: Reshaped Big 12 without Longhorns and Sooners? It sure won’t be the same

With all due respect to the Texas Longhorns and the Oklahoma Sooners, the Big 12 has my college football heart. It always has. The Big 12, in fact, had me at ‘hello’ back when it was called the Big 8 during my kid years. How many of you remember that? 

So how can I say this? It really annoys me that UT and OU are joining the SEC. It’s not complicated to understand why, and it makes sense, but that still doesn’t mean I have to like it. 

College football is my favorite sport. There are some close seconds, but Saturdays in the fall are what I live for the most. I covered the Pac 12 for six years, and I follow every Power Five conference in the country. I’ve even been all-in with Conference USA, until now, and I’m gonna be all in as UTSA starts their run in the American Athletic Conference this season. But I’m always gonna be with the Big 12, and it’s just quite the kick in the seat of the pants to see our — and my — two most important programs jump ship just like that.

To me, the Big 12 is Texas and Oklahoma. Those are the headliners. They’ve made everything else go. And I’m still bothered that Nebraska left years ago. I mean, come on man, it’s the Big Red Machine. That’s Big 8! That’s Big 12! But I digress, I guess.

This is not new news. We’ve known, but I’ve tried to push it away every time it has stared me in the face. The ‘why’ are they doing this isn’t really worth discussing. The landscape of college football has forever changed, and there will be more to come. And I know we’re replacing the Longhorns and Sooners with others, but this isn’t about them. This is about being bummed that two of the originals are leaving for that almighty dollar and the promise of something better. It’s the way it works. It just stinks that that’s the way it does. 

We get them this season for one last dance. We get the Red River rivalry one final time under the Big 12 umbrella. That’s gonna be awesome! It’s also gonna be amazingly bittersweet for me. It’s what I’ve grown up with. The pageantry will still exist in the SEC, and they do get to play next year, thank goodness, but just thinking that it’s no longer gonna be Big 12 football, I just almost can’t imagine. 

But I’m not all doom and gloom with this commentary. Something very important IS coming back. Something really important. The most import college football game in the great state of Texas is coming back. You’re happy about that, too? We all are. The college football world hasn’t seemed right without it. We need Texas vs. Texas A&M, and it’s happening next year! At Kyle Field! The Aggies have always felt like, and it’s probably true, that they’re viewed one step below the mighty University of Texas. Can you imagine the buildup for that game? It’s gonna be off the charts! 

And speaking of, sometimes you might wanna be careful what you ask for. I’m talking to you, Texas, and to you, Oklahoma. They’re gonna love having you in the SEC, but they’re gonna love beating you more than having your money. Even the bottom feeder cellar dwellers of the Southeastern Conference are decent college football teams. There’s no other conference like it in the sport. Just ask A&M. How many conference championships have they won since leaving the Big 12? That would be exactly ZERO in 11 SEC seasons. How many times have they won 10 or more games in any season since joining the SEC? Once. What was their record last year? 5-7. I’m just saying, be careful what you wish for. The SEC is much more than just Alabama and Georgia. You’ll learn quickly that the Kansas Jayhawks aren’t nestled in there somewhere. 

There’s a picture that hangs in the Texas Tech Athletic Media Relations office that signified the birth of the conference in the fall of 1996. I had just graduated college the spring of that year and I remember the huge news about the Big 8 and the Southwest Conference merging. I wasn’t as wise or in tune to importance of the moment back then, but my Big 8 was now my Big 12, and I embraced it fully, and grew with it every step of the way. So I just can’t believe that 29 years later, at the conclusion of this season, that our two most important teams are leaving. This thing has been my college football life. There’s nothing about this that makes me happy. I’ve nothing against the new teams coming in, and they’ll probably grow on me, but that doesn’t mean I’m in love with it right now. I’m just bummed out. The football heart hurts. But nobody from UT or OU has asked my opinion, and they’re not going to. Where they’re going is what they believe is the next best thing, and it probably is. I’m just choosing not to like it.

#ForeverBig12