New world order: Big 12 in era of upheaval as Texas, Oklahoma take back seat
By Pat Forde 10 hours ago Yahoo Sports
The Big 12 is the best place in America to prove that massive, substantive change is possible in college football.
The elite can be overthrown. The meek can inherit the earth.
After Oklahoma and Texas won every league title from 2004-09, the two historic kingpins of the Southwest have managed just a share of one Big 12 championship since – that by the Sooners in 2012, when they were clearly the second-best team to Kansas State. Oklahoma and the Longhorns are both in the top seven in FBS history in winning percentage.
Lately, the conference has been overtaken by programs with a long history of being trod upon.
In 2011, Oklahoma State – No. 87 in FBS history in winning percentage, at .506 – ended the Oklahoma-Texas hegemony. In ’12, it was Kansas State – No. 112 in winning percentage, at .447. In 2013, it was Baylor – No. 82, at .510.
And last year, quite memorably, Baylor and TCU (No. 70, at .534), were controversial co-champions.
Shawn Oakman said earlier in August. “You don’t want to give the committee a choice. You don’t want to give them a choice at all. We want to keep the control in our hands. The only way we’re able to do that is to go undefeated.”
Here’s the rub: only five champions in the 19-year history of the Big 12 have gone undefeated in league play – none since Texas in 2009, which needed a field goal on the last play against Nebraska to stay that way. Chances are, there will be blood. And if there is, we’ll see whether the committee can give a program like TCU or Baylor the respect normally conferred upon the noble class.
Fact is, they have the trappings of nobility now. They have gleaming facilities: Baylor opened a dazzling new stadium last year (price tag: $266 million), and TCU showed off a dazzling renovated stadium in 2013 (price tag: $164 million). They have hired quality coaches who fit well at their institutions, and paid them like big shots: TCU’s Gary Patterson is in his 15th season, and will make about $4 million this year; Baylor’s Art Briles is in his eighth season, and also will make about $4 million.
The advantages they enjoy over fellow Big 12 strivers Kansas State and Oklahoma State are location, location, location. Texas is a mother lode of talent, and currently TCU and Baylor are able to siphon away enough of it from the Longhorns, Sooners, Texas A&M and others to compete with the biggest boys.
For those with long memories, or access to history books, it’s just hard to believe that these two schools have taken over Texas.
Will Heisman contender Trevone Boykin and the Horned Frogs make the College Football Playoff this season?
In its history, Baylor has nine total championship seasons: two in the Texas Intercollegiate Athletic Association (1915 and ’16), five in the Southwest Conference (including a five-way tie in 1994), and now the last two in the Big 12 (2013 and ’14).
TCU went the entire 1960s, '70s and '80s without winning a title of any kind. Other than being part of that five-way SWC tie in ’94, they went exactly 40 years between power-five league championships. Of course, that was partly because they were evicted from the power elite.
When the Big Eight and Southwest Conferences merged in the mid-90s to create the Big 12, TCU was exiled to the hinterlands: it wandered from Western Athletic Conference to Conference USA to Mountain West before being welcomed back – somewhat grudgingly, in some quarters – when Nebraska, Colorado, Missouri and Texas A&M fled.
Of course, football is a zero-sum game. Which means every success story comes at a cost to someone else. The flip side in the Big 12 is that kingpins Texas and Oklahoma let this happen on their watch.
The two programs with every advantage have given away that advantage. Which is why Bob Stoops is facing unprecedented restlessness in Norman in his 17 seasons, and why Charlie Strong replaced Mack Brown in Austin last year. It’s one thing to not win national titles; now the Sooners and Longhorns have stopped winning conference titles, too.
But at the very least, this period of upheaval in the Big 12 should show the Have Nots everywhere else in college football what is possible. Seemingly every underdog can eventually have its day – when the stars, the players, the coaches and the facilities align right.
Link: http://sports.yahoo.com/news/new-wo...-oklahoma-take-back-seat-032029601-ncaaf.html
By Pat Forde 10 hours ago Yahoo Sports
The Big 12 is the best place in America to prove that massive, substantive change is possible in college football.
The elite can be overthrown. The meek can inherit the earth.
After Oklahoma and Texas won every league title from 2004-09, the two historic kingpins of the Southwest have managed just a share of one Big 12 championship since – that by the Sooners in 2012, when they were clearly the second-best team to Kansas State. Oklahoma and the Longhorns are both in the top seven in FBS history in winning percentage.
Lately, the conference has been overtaken by programs with a long history of being trod upon.
In 2011, Oklahoma State – No. 87 in FBS history in winning percentage, at .506 – ended the Oklahoma-Texas hegemony. In ’12, it was Kansas State – No. 112 in winning percentage, at .447. In 2013, it was Baylor – No. 82, at .510.
And last year, quite memorably, Baylor and TCU (No. 70, at .534), were controversial co-champions.
Shawn Oakman said earlier in August. “You don’t want to give the committee a choice. You don’t want to give them a choice at all. We want to keep the control in our hands. The only way we’re able to do that is to go undefeated.”
Here’s the rub: only five champions in the 19-year history of the Big 12 have gone undefeated in league play – none since Texas in 2009, which needed a field goal on the last play against Nebraska to stay that way. Chances are, there will be blood. And if there is, we’ll see whether the committee can give a program like TCU or Baylor the respect normally conferred upon the noble class.
Fact is, they have the trappings of nobility now. They have gleaming facilities: Baylor opened a dazzling new stadium last year (price tag: $266 million), and TCU showed off a dazzling renovated stadium in 2013 (price tag: $164 million). They have hired quality coaches who fit well at their institutions, and paid them like big shots: TCU’s Gary Patterson is in his 15th season, and will make about $4 million this year; Baylor’s Art Briles is in his eighth season, and also will make about $4 million.
The advantages they enjoy over fellow Big 12 strivers Kansas State and Oklahoma State are location, location, location. Texas is a mother lode of talent, and currently TCU and Baylor are able to siphon away enough of it from the Longhorns, Sooners, Texas A&M and others to compete with the biggest boys.
For those with long memories, or access to history books, it’s just hard to believe that these two schools have taken over Texas.
Will Heisman contender Trevone Boykin and the Horned Frogs make the College Football Playoff this season?
In its history, Baylor has nine total championship seasons: two in the Texas Intercollegiate Athletic Association (1915 and ’16), five in the Southwest Conference (including a five-way tie in 1994), and now the last two in the Big 12 (2013 and ’14).
TCU went the entire 1960s, '70s and '80s without winning a title of any kind. Other than being part of that five-way SWC tie in ’94, they went exactly 40 years between power-five league championships. Of course, that was partly because they were evicted from the power elite.
When the Big Eight and Southwest Conferences merged in the mid-90s to create the Big 12, TCU was exiled to the hinterlands: it wandered from Western Athletic Conference to Conference USA to Mountain West before being welcomed back – somewhat grudgingly, in some quarters – when Nebraska, Colorado, Missouri and Texas A&M fled.
Of course, football is a zero-sum game. Which means every success story comes at a cost to someone else. The flip side in the Big 12 is that kingpins Texas and Oklahoma let this happen on their watch.
The two programs with every advantage have given away that advantage. Which is why Bob Stoops is facing unprecedented restlessness in Norman in his 17 seasons, and why Charlie Strong replaced Mack Brown in Austin last year. It’s one thing to not win national titles; now the Sooners and Longhorns have stopped winning conference titles, too.
But at the very least, this period of upheaval in the Big 12 should show the Have Nots everywhere else in college football what is possible. Seemingly every underdog can eventually have its day – when the stars, the players, the coaches and the facilities align right.
Link: http://sports.yahoo.com/news/new-wo...-oklahoma-take-back-seat-032029601-ncaaf.html
