Big 12 Championship: Huskers' Last Showdown with Sooners Has a Bittersweet End

Time is like a river, and history repeats.

Year in and year out, the Nebraska Cornhuskers and Oklahoma Sooners would take the field in one of college football’s greatest rivalries.

So many times, two of the nation’s best teams clashed wearing crimson and scarlet. So often did this contest provide huge national championship implications.

This year, there is an undertone of severe importance, but not because this match-up is for the national championship. The now-deceased Big Eight determines the final champion of the Big 12 conference.

Unfortunately, for the Big 12, and those who have already told the Huskers to not let the door hit them on the way out, Oklahoma isn’t necessarily the best choice as the “Big 12 Representative.”

The Texas-Oklahoma rivalry was preserved at all costs when the conference was formed. The Red River Rivalry ensured that the hate flowed between the two schools.

The occasional rekindling of Oklahoma-Nebraska meant that two fan bases who heavily respect one another had an opportunity to catch up.

Cornhuskers and Sooners would hunker down at their tailgates over drinks and grills reminiscing about Barry Switzer and Tom Osborne. They would relive how fast Billy Sims or Johnny “The Jet” Rodgers were.

There was talk of Big Eight domination, tears of victory and humbling handshakes, “Sooner Magic”  and, of course, the “Game of the Century.”

This Saturday, the Sooners and Cornhuskers will strap it on to play for the last time in a while. According to The Oklahoman, the two schools are considering a non-conference series in 2020-2021 or the year after.

There won’t be any new memories between now and then.

Should Oklahoma win, Nebraska will see a decent bowl game that will provide extra practice. Nebraska will also be able to rest the likes of Taylor Martinez for a good long spell. The Sooners would advance to yet another BCS bowl, and the Big 12 would have the “last laugh.”

Should the Cornhuskers win, the newest member of the Big Ten conference would walk away with its first Big 12 Championship since 1999.

They would visit a BCS bowl for the first time since 2001 and have the opportunity to win 12 games for the first time since that fruitful 1999 season.

The overall goal for the Cornhuskers prior to the season was to win the BCS National Championship. With that not being an option, the last Big 12 Championship ever will provide a stage and opportunity perhaps almost as grand.

Bob Stoops and Bo Pelini currently hold a 1-1 record versus each other.

This is the rubber game, the brawl to end it all and the swan song of the Big 12.

It couldn’t have been written up any better.

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