I look forward to that game, but am not a fan of either team. So my opinion is not particularly relevant.
Truth be told I've always been kinda jealous of the teams that get to have a fixed out of conference rivalry.
As such I find it kind of infuriating when teams have a perfect one all served up on a silver platter, and then refuse to play it. Like Nebraska-Oklahoma. Or Texas-aTm.
I'm sure that they all have what they would consider to be "good reasons" to not play it, but I hate it nonetheless.
When I was a student at OU (1972-77), the OU-Nebraska game was on a similar plane as the OU-Texas game. Very different sorts of rivalries, though. One was a rivalry of mutual respect, the other of mutual hatred.
But OU-Nebraska hadn't been anything special (as far as I know) prior to the 1971 GOTC. OU had dominated in the 1950s, then, as OU declined, Nebraska was getting better and better throughout the '60s. The Huskers were conference co-champs in 1969 and sole champions (and AP national champs) in 1970. Then, for a stretch of almost 20 years, OU and Nebraska between them dominated the Big 8. The winner of the head-to-head game always won or shared the conference championship and usually went to the Orange Bowl. One or the other was the champ or co-champ every year from 1971 through 1988. Then in the 1990s OU tailed off--then plummeted off--while Nebraska had its greatest-ever decade. Also during the '90s, Colorado became a big rival--maybe bigger than OU--for Nebraska.
In the middle of the '90s, the Big 12 was formed. OU-Nebraska became a 2-years-out-of-4 rivalry, as OU didn't care enough to fight for the Big 12 to have an annual cross-divisional rivalry game. And it became less of a rivalry at the same time it wasn't competitive anymore. To put it nicely, OU got its head pounded in a couple of time. OU rebounded in 2000, but Nebraska tailed off after 2001. In both those years, winning the head-to-head game was a key component of the season. But it seldom was after that, although the two teams played in CCG the last year Nebraska was in the Big 12.
If the two programs had parted conference ways in the 1970s or '80s, an annual OOC game might have been very attractive. But after 2010, with the 15 years of dwindling importance and interest in the half-rivalry, it seemed less so. The formation of the Big 12, with Nebraska and OU in different divisions, and no permanent crossover games, doomed the rivalry as much as Nebraska leaving for the Big Ten.
If the two programs ever started a permanent annual OOC game, it would be primarily for tradition's sake. Neither would get much if any recruiting boost, as neither recruits much in the other's state. It would be sort like USC-Notre Dame--a "pure" annual OOC rivalry that has no need to exist, except for the tradition that it has existed since the Knute Rockne era.
I'm very glad that we're playing the Huskers in
1921-22 2021-22 and
1929-30 2029-30. But I don't think it's going to lead to an annual OOC game. Only old geezers like me, and not-quite-so-old geezers like Fearless would push for it. The younger fans don't remember the glory days.
As for Texas and Texas A&M, I believe those two programs parted ways with very bitter feelings. Utee or one of the other Horns could tell you more about that.
