Oklahoma football: Big 12’s nightmare 2021 scenario
By Chip Rouse
It’s been a crazy summer news cycle for the Big 12 Conference in the aftermath of the tsunami news that the Texas and Oklahoma football teams are picking up their ball and heading to greener gridiron pastures.
light. Related Story. How dust will settle following OU's move to SEC
Neither the Sooners nor Longhorns have abandoned the Big 12 yet. But come on, man, is their heart and soul really in the Big 12 any longer. Moreover, can any of the remaining eight teams in the league view OU and Texas with anything but contempt — and possibly, deep down, a little bit of hidden envy?
To say the least, it’s going to be a very strange and unusual 2021 season in Big 12 football.
In the coming days, we will be sizing up the Big 12 football race and how things could look come the end of the 12-game regular season. as well as breaking down the Oklahoma-specific 2021 schedule.
But for now, I’d like to ponder the possibilities of a season-ending scenario that would be like pouring salt on an open wound.
It’s hard to imagine that Big 12 teams won’t muster an extra bit of emotion and physicality in games against Oklahoma and Texas this season. Under normal circumstances, those two teams will always have a target on their back because of who they are and the tradition associated with both. This season, however, and for as long as OU and Texas remain part of the Big 12, that target has gotten much bigger.
Road games are always difficult, but when the Sooners and Longhorns visit enemy venues in the foreseeable future, they can expect the term “hostile environment” to take on a whole new meaning.
Oklahoma is again projected as the heavy favorite in the Big 12 this season — which might be a reason for the rest of the conference to rejoice the Sooners’ departure. Iowa State is the choice of most college football experts as the team most likely to be the Sooners’ biggest challenger.
The Cyclones were picked by the league coaches to finish second behind OU in the Preseason Big 12 Poll and most every top-25 projection has Iowa State in the nation’s top 10.
That’s how things look on paper. TCU and Oklahoma State are also expected to have good teams this season. But what if somehow Oklahoma and Texas ended up in the top two spots of the conference standings and wound up facing each other, for a second time in the 2021 season, in the Big 12 Championship game?
Let me say that again: Oklahoma and Texas playing for the 2021 Big 12 championship.
The media would love that, especially ESPN, which is scheduled to carry the Dr. Pepper Big 12 Championship. Fans of Oklahoma and Texas would also relish such a matchup, particularly the fans of the team that loses the Red River rivalry game in the regular season.
I’ll tell you this, though, that would be a nightmare scenario for the Big 12. It would be viewed by the rest of the conference, and perhaps everywhere else outside of Big 12 Country, as the ultimate rub-it-in-your-face snub.
It’s bad enough, from a Big 12 perspective, for either Oklahoma or Texas to win the conference, given the current state of affairs. But it also represents the current reality, which is why both schools are willing to turn a cheek to the stronger competitive nature of the SEC for even better exposure along with a better financial payday.