With scandals at Miami, USC, Ohio State, Oregon, and North Carolina, one might think that my stance on Texas is hyperbole, but I assure you that it is not, especially if you love the tradition of college football. While the scandals at the different schools listed are cause for concern and should prompt a call for reform, the Texas Longhorns have done more in the last fifteen years to permanently damage college football than any other person, institution, or governing body.
In 1995, Oklahoma and Nebraska played their final post-Thanksgiving rivalry game. That 37-0 whimper of an ending to a great rivalry based on mutual respect was the first symptom of the end of college football as we know it. Texas had a nice situation in the Southwest Conference, but, after Arkansas left the SWC in 1990, Texas started sniffing for greener pastures, and started the push to dissolve the SWC. In 1996, the old Big 8 took a chance and took in the four schools from Texas in what was an attempt by Texas to compete with the SEC for relevance in the national spotlight. A championship game was added, and the conference offices were relocated from Kansas City to Dallas. This shift to Texas also destroyed the great OU/NU rivalry, as OU and NU were split into two different divisions. OU joined the Texas schools and Okie State in forming the Big 12 South, and that was the beginning of the end. Nebraska lost its cultural tie to the conference, as trying to replace OU with Colorado is like replacing your Ferrari with a Sebring. With the fundamental differences between Texas and Nebraska, it was only a matter of time before it would come to a head.
Fast-forward fifteen years, and Nebraska is in the Big Ten, Colorado is in the Pac-12, and Texas A&M has just announced that is withdrawing from the Big 12, presumably to join the SEC. Why did this all happen?
Texas hubris.
Texas hubris pushed Nebraska from the Big 12, ending one of the longest played series in the game (NU/Kansas), ending over a century's worth of association with Iowa State, Kansas, Missouri, and Kansas State, and ending nearly a century's worth of association with Oklahoma and Oklahoma State. All of this because Texas couldn't handle not being the center of attention when part of the now defunct Southwest Conference, and, after becoming part of the national conversation by riding the coattails of Nebraska and Oklahoma, Texas got even greedier and went after their own network. That network is what drove Nebraska away, and it's what drove Texas A&M out, and I can assure you that OU will soon follow.
So why, do you ask, is this bad? Shouldn't everyone pursue money? Isn't this America? Is this capitalism at its finest?
I'll tell you why it's bad: what makes college football great is the stories behind the games. The years and years and years of history behind each matchup make each game more important. Kansas State beating Nebraska in 1998 wouldn't have meant nearly as much to the K-State fans without the thirty previous years of watching the Huskers leave the field as victors. No A&M victory over Texas or Texas victory over OU would mean as much without the decades of games in each series leading up to each victory. Each and every game is important in college football in regards to the pursuit of a national title, but each and every league game is important because of those years of tradition behind each game. Texas is quickly destroying with their hubris over a century of traditions from some of the greatest programs in college football's storied history.
Oklahoma will be leaving. A&M has left. Nebraska has left. Those three programs have great traditions of winning and, in the case of A&M especially, have some great game day traditions as well. Texas doesn't care, though, because they want to make a few more dollars. Soon there will be a just a few super-conferences as the Big 12 fully implodes and the Pac-12 becomes the Pac-16 and the SEC expands to 16 teams. I'm sure that the Big Ten will do the same. The result? We're going to lose games like Georgia-Florida or Tennessee-Alabama or Wisconsin-Minnesota. We've already lost USC-Washington and Stanford-USC. The Big Ten managed to keep the vast majority of its rivalry games, but if there is an expansion to sixteen teams, many will go by the wayside. All of this starts because Texas can't be satisfied with its lot in life.
DIAF, DeLoss Dodds.
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