Even ND is in a conference for everything besides football. BYU went indy, and has had difficulty putting a decent schedule together. Not likely a great idea.
Is OU done winning national titles?
- Thread starter BawlzDeep
- Start date
And since 2005, there's no question which conference is not the conference of champions.
ESPN is likely going to downplay the Big 12 from here on, while saying that winning the Big 12 is no big deal.
I believe that Texas returning to its Mack Brown relevance is key to the conference's resurrection, as well as for OU getting stronger.
Right now, the Big 12 is stagnating while the SEC has its stranglehold on CFB getting tighter each year....and going into the 2020 season, OU's team has many question marks, as well as having to compete with not only Texas, but the SEC for Texas high school talent. Alabama swayed two elite Texas talents in LB Drew Sanders and RB Jace McClellan from OU in December.
I think Riley is well aware of what needs to be done and his upgrading his staff and the strength of the 2020 class (which is not completed yet) reflect this.
The Big 12 needs to get at least 3-4 teams (OU and Texas to start with) that are capable of having successful postseason resumes every season. The 2019 season did OU and the Big 12 no favors at all.
OU can leave without OSU. There is nothing that can require the 2 to stay together now that Boren is gone.
With the growing money disparity OU will gradually grow handicap in our sports programs if we stay in the Big 12.
Not (I presume) is there anything we can do about this situation for 3 more years or so either other than to keep working towards improving & be ready to jump when the time comes if the opportunity arises...
That's the way I see it.
If you follow the words of the current OU president, OU Board of Regents, Governor, LT Governor and others they want to improve OU academics and research to an AAU like quality by 2025. This all sounds very Big 10 like to me.
The Big 10 at 14 teams now probably wants to add two more teams by 2025.
Purdue and either Northwestern or Illinois would go east with OU and Texas placed in the west....and OU could maintain its Oklahoma State rivalry if it wanted to.
Whatever the decision OU will be married to the conference for a good period of time whether it’s the B12 or another. Probably more gut wrenching for us older Sooner fans.
That downplaying thing is unlikely, because they just spent money, upgrading their money to the Big XII for rights fees.
Joining the SEC would be the opposite of our best interests in getting to the CFP title game. We'd be in the West, and be lucky to make the final four once a decade. The Big XII is the best option for OU athletics across the board. The grass isn't greener elsewhere.
The Big 10 maybe looking at adding more than just OU and Texas and move to a pod system that would guarantee that all the most important games be protected. We could be looking at the addition of 1 or 2 more Big 12 teams.
When OU has all most all of the Oklahoma recruiting base and fans in their corner I'm not sure why we would want to give OSU any further validation in what has been a very one sided series?
OU is probably better off playing more games with teams in locations that might help our recruiting.
I agree that change can be hard but because of the projections of money there is no way OU athletics can stay long term competitive by staying in the Big 12 with a lot less money than B1G and SEC members.Whatever the decision OU will be married to the conference for a good period of time whether it’s the B12 or another. Probably more gut wrenching for us older Sooner fans.
We are talking about hundreds of millions in difference over several decades.
The networks can save a very large amount of money by forcing OU and Texas out of the Big 12 and due to their poor TV ratings pay those left behind far less money.
Look for the networks to low ball the Big 12 in the next contract.
Soonerheart.....Just to make my preference clear, signing another contract with the B12 in 2025 would give me major heartburn unless something very unlikely happens that would make the conference relevant once again. One thing I will be looking for is how we rank in defensive recruiting rather than overall recruiting. If you take a look at our team rankings since 2017, OU has been in the top 10 after six years of holding the flashlight. However, 2017, 2018, 2019 and 2020 classes have been predominantly heavy offensive “stars” and most highly ranked defensive recruits have been DBs and LBs. If we continue this trend not much will change regardless who is coaching, imo. We can’t count on guys like Grinch to stay at OU. The coach has to have the horses at every position.
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