What do you want to see happen with OU's conference situation?

[WTSooner]

I don't put NU on the same level as I put OU and Bama. OU and Bama have won NC's over multiple decades. Four for OU. Six for Bama. Two for NU. NU also lost what I consider a HUGE advantage for them when the walk-on rules changed. They really haven't ever recovered from that. They've been slow to adjust to offensive changes in college football, and while they recruit Cali well, I still feel like they don't have a fertile area where they can dominate recruiting like OU has with Texas.

NU will probably rebound and have some runs.....but I honestly don't think you'll ever see them dominate like OU has under Bob Stoops. I don't see them having that kind of "lasting" power any more.

 

[Sooner04]

I don't put NU on the same level as I put OU and Bama. OU and Bama have won NC's over multiple decades. Four for OU. Six for Bama. Two for NU. NU also lost what I consider a HUGE advantage for them when the walk-on rules changed. They really haven't ever recovered from that. They've been slow to adjust to offensive changes in college football, and while they recruit Cali well, I still feel like they don't have a fertile area where they can dominate recruiting like OU has with Texas.

I've got a little more respect for what they've accomplished. They were an absolute powerhouse from the late 60s into the '90s, and they were ranked #1 into the decade of the 2000s. That's pretty solid.

 

[Mutron76]

In terms of the basketball programs I voted for the Pac-12. I do not have any worthwhile arguments other than I think it would be a cool change. Speaking for football though I am OK with pac12, sec, or a good scenario which keeps the Big 12 exciting. My 3rd option looks uninspiring to me at the moment though so conference realignment seems more interesting at the moment. OU can handle as tough a schedule as anyone else can manage and I do not travel with the team so i am fine with almost any move they make.

 

[stoops4pres]

I think Houston can grow into a decent program. I certainly think they can replace anything CU or aTm did in football over the last 20 years.

I don't know if they can reach the pinnacles of success that A&M reached in the 90's, but I agree with this point. They could be a solid football program should they join an AQ conference.

Memphis doesn't add anything in football. But they add a TON in hoops, and they give us one completely new market.

Basketball has shown that it is hardly a player in the realignment issue... Just ask KU last summer.

You do have a point about the market, but what Memphis brings wouldn't be enough to salvage the loss of A&M. It would be a stop-gap, not a solution.

Truth is, when you start looking at all of it together, we can probably replace what we lost rather easily.

Not in the grand scheme of things. The only viable solutions are ones that are seemingly implausible at this point (ie Arkansas, BYU, Notre Dame).

 

[stoops4pres]

Before Saban's hire Nebraska had won three national titles and played for two others since Alabamuh had last sniffed the big time.

These things go in cycles, and it can all be changed with one hire for the traditional powerhouses.

Colorado's rise was a totally different animal, and it fed off the carcasses of a dying program (Oklahoma) and the complete collapse of the D-1 programs in the state of California. A truly perfect storm.

Completely agree on Colorado, and I agree to a certain extent about Nebraska. I think Nebraska can be great in spurts, but I wouldn't be surprised if they didn't reach the consistency at the top like they did in the past.

 

[stoops4pres]

NU also lost what I consider a HUGE advantage for them when the walk-on rules changed. They really haven't ever recovered from that. They've been slow to adjust to offensive changes in college football, and while they recruit Cali well, I still feel like they don't have a fertile area where they can dominate recruiting like OU has with Texas.

Correct. Recruiting proximity is one of the primary reasons why it will be harder for them to have a resurgence to the caliber of an OU or Bama, because they aren't close to fertile recruiting grounds like those two aforementioned programs.

Keep in mind that throughout the latter-half of the 20th century, Nebraska allured recruits with the advantage of playing on TV more than most programs. That landscape as we all know has entirely changed, for almost everyone is on TV now.

Nebraska will always be a respectable program because of their facilities and passionate fan base, but I don't foresee them reaching the dominance like they used to.

 

[Sawyer]

So why did aTm and the SEC make a big deal a couple of weeks ago about not being able to negotiate and extend offers, yet that article reads as if that is exactly what they plan to do with either Mizzou or WV? I don't understand that. Shouldn't those two schools have to formally withdraw first?

I believe you're right that the schools will need to formally withdraw from their current conference before anything official can take place with the SEC. And technically, MU and/or WVU will not be invited; they'll apply and the SEC will vote (but the application never happens unless the school already knows what the result will be).

A lot of what happens between now and then will be unofficial, off the record stuff, I imagine.

 

[Soonerman]

The Big 12 has OU and UT. We're "elite" on that alone. I'm sick of people talking about CU/NU/aTm like they are some amazing programs that cannot be replaced.

The A&M athletic program is among the best in the nation, year in and year out.

The Big 12 is dead...we need to head west while we have the chance. Adding crappy schools like Louisville or Memphis or any ones listed outside of ND is only a detriment to OU.

 

[SoonerBounce13]

The A&M athletic program is among the best in the nation, year in and year out.

this is a joke right? Maybe in non revenue sports, IDK. But this realignment is driven by money, which is driven by football. A&M football is a joke

 

[WTSooner]

this is a joke right? Maybe in non revenue sports, IDK. But this realignment is driven by money, which is driven by football. A&M football is a joke

This.

I don't give a flip how good they are in cross country. OSU is really good at wrasslin', golf, and equestian, but I don't hear people calling them a great athletic program.