Reply With QuoteBedlam and Red River are two of the best rivalries in college football. Year-in, year-out, those games are insane and usually have BCS bowl, if not national title implications. We've already lost OU vs. Nebraska - a 100-year-old rivalry.
If the Pac-12 came and started courting Oklahoma would the conference be willing to take OSU if that was required to get the Sooners? Since I'm sure they don't want to give up that rivalry and Texas.
Bedlam and Red River are two of the best rivalries in college football. Year-in, year-out, those games are insane and usually have BCS bowl, if not national title implications. We've already lost OU vs. Nebraska - a 100-year-old rivalry.
That's a damn good question. Last summer it was almost a done-deal that the pac10 would make the first megaconference huge expansion, and it appeared nearly certain that along w Colorado and Utah; UT, likely A/M (who was still flirting w the SEC then), OU, and OSU would be the teams to join. It all fell apart when the Big 12 got reassurances on tv deals with future provisions for the Longhorn Network. This was the temporary solution that kept the floundering conference viable.Originally Posted by LethalStriker
Now, I don't know how intrested UT would be for a move to the Pac 10/12. Not very intrested, I'd assume, since they ultimately seem to envision going independent if their network works out.
If the Pac12 courted OU, I'd think that the conference would also offer a spot to OSU to complete the deal. The Pac 12 commissioner is very smart and forward thinking and would understand the importance of maintaining rivalries and of the relationship between the two. He kept the Norcal and Socal rivalries intact in the Pac12 thus far.
I think that even if OU were to move to a two division megaconference that did not also contain UT; the sooners would still maintain a yearly game w UT. The RRR still has been a non-conf game for far more years than it has been a conference game, and as long as OU had 3-4 open dates each year on their schedule, they'd maintain the OU/UT game for tradition and recruiting footprint reasons.
Most of the blogs I occassionally scan seem to focus, though, on what the Big 12 is doing/should do to remain solvent; not on what innovative realignments OU should do to proactively get the best position for itself in this changing landscape of conference realignment. These blogs may or may not neccessarily reflect what is going on in the minds of the OU AD however. At least on the surface though...it appears that OU is staying put w UT in the Big 12/9 for now.
If Big 12 wants to stay competitive with the other conferences long term they have to find someway to get back to having a conference championship game which would mean adding at least 3 more teams to the conference. Since a conference makes a bunch of money by having conference championship games in a packed dome on national TV.
I totally agree w you that it's sad that the OU-Neb rivalry has been lost. It was actually my favorite of all rivalries; since it's one of the rivalries that relied on respect, not hatred, as its cornerstone. As a whole, the Neb fans were respectful and good fans. I may be biased a bit; my dad was a Neb alum. I know that I also always seemed to root for Neb for all their games except for OU. Many of my OU friends did the same.
OU/OSU is my fav instate rivalry by far. I'd argue that it's the greatest multisport instate rivalry of them all as far as both schools' tradition goes. The unique aspects of wrestling tradition (where the term bedlam was coined) and the historic combined power of both schools on the mat, on the diamond, and on the hardwood is unrivaled anywhere else imo.
Could not agree more: Bedlam is a year-long event with competitive rivalries in half-a-dozen games from wrestling to baseball and basketball to football. Losing that would be more than a minor identity crisis for both schools, but especially for OState.
And Nebraska is a fantastic example of the real tragedy in realignment: losing hallowed rituals of mutual respect and high-level competition that date back to the 1920s. I don't care who you are; that just plain sucks.
Sounds like OU and OSU at a minimum could go Pac 12.
Texas and Texas Tech could join.
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I would guess the Pac-16 divisions would look something like this:
EAST
Arizona
Arizona State
Colorado
Oklahoma
Oklahoma State
Texas
Texas Tech
Utah
WEST
California
Oregon
Oregon State
Stanford
UCLA
USC
Washington
Washington State
That's just my guess though.
Would be perfect.
[SIGPIC][/SIGPIC]
Clay Guida beats Takanori "The Fireball Kid" Gomi by Submission (Gulliotine Choke) at 4:27 Rd 2
This sig was bestowen upon me by XXXvaletudoXXX
Sad to lose traditions and 80-year-old rivalries; but this thing could end up being pretty cool if that's the way it ends up.
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