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Nebraska and Colorado left one year earlier than A&M and Mizzou.

And I remember hearing the rumors that at least partially, OU administration was okay with not playing Nebraska every year because of the annual whippings occurring at the time. But I don't know any OU insiders so I probably just heard that from you, C-Dubb.  Or maybe cousin Freddy.

It sounds unlikely to me, and certainly very short-sighted, but I guess even smart people can make dumb decisions sometimes.  

I think we've all discussed and mostly agreed that the loss of the annual OU-NU rivalry, caused a foundational rift in the B12, before it ever even got going.  It's obviously not the sole reason for the eventual dissatisfaction and school exits from the conference, but I think it was a big part of the feelings of isolation and unhappiness that the Nebraska administration obviously felt.

Also, I've often thought that maybe the N/S divisons really didn't work that well, over time.  I kinda wish that the divisions would be somewhat fluid, maybe switch them up every 4 or so years, not by region but by a more methodic criteria.  At the end of the original Big 12 N/S configuration the Big 12 South was much stronger then the North.  I think it would have been better to have a more evenly matched situation.  Texas Tech being in a different division than OU/Texas around the 2005-2009 timeframe would have been a good thing for the league.  I say every 4 years because fortunes change rapidly in CFB, I think 10 years would be way too long.  

Nebraska and Colorado left one year earlier than A&M and Mizzou.

And I remember hearing the rumors that at least partially, OU administration was okay with not playing Nebraska every year because of the annual whippings occurring at the time. But I don't know any OU insiders so I probably just heard that from you, C-Dubb.  Or maybe cousin Freddy.

It sounds unlikely to me, and certainly very short-sighted, but I guess even smart people can make dumb decisions sometimes. 

I'd like for you to be correct about OU's role (or not) in that.

I think we've all discussed and mostly agreed that the loss of the annual OU-NU rivalry, caused a foundational rift in the B12, before it ever even got going.  It's obviously not the sole reason for the eventual dissatisfaction and school exits from the conference, but I think it was a big part of the feelings of isolation and unhappiness that the Nebraska administration obviously felt.

Yep. Nebraska didn't have a longstanding rival other than OU, whereas OU still had the annual game with Texas. Nebraska had dominated the other teams in the Big 12 North. KU, K-State, ISU, Mizzou, and Colorado loved it when they could beat Nebraska, but Nebraska didn't have the same single-minded focus on beating them. Colorado--for awhile--was an exception to that. There were other factors, but the loss of the annual battle of the Big Reds was certainly a big one.

This shit starting already...shakes my head.  


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