Big 12 Football: How Texas and Oklahoma Lost Control of the Big 12
For years, it seemed as though the Red River Showdown was a de facto Big 12 title game. The winner often gained the inside track to a conference championship and was almost assured a spot in a BCS bowl.
Now, in the new era of the College Football Playoff, one of the sport's biggest matchups is an exercise in futility.
The Texas Longhorns, long thought to be the kingpin of the Big 12 and still the biggest spenders in college athletics at $146 million (per USA Today), are among the bottom-feeders of the Big 12.
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Stefan Scrafield of the Dallas Morning News ran a headline proclaiming that the Longhorns didn't give up simply to gain bowl eligibility this year.
As for the Sooners, they've fared a little better but have fallen short of elite-status expectations for the better part of the decade. They have just two Big 12 titles in the last six seasons including this one—2010 and 2012.
The 2010 title sent Oklahoma to the Fiesta Bowl, where it thrashed the UConn Huskies 48-20, but 2012's was split with Kansas State—a team it lost to at home and therefore caused it to miss a bid to a BCS bowl. The Sooners later got demolished by Texas A&M in the Aggies' first season in the SEC in the Cotton Bowl.
In 2014, the Sooners were picked as the preseason conference favorites.
But after three conference losses—two at home—to TCU, Kansas State and an embarrassment to Baylor, Bob Stoops and Co. are now not only all but out of the hunt for a conference title, but they may miss out on a prime-time bowl altogether.
The Longhorns and Sooners have stepped down from the podium of the Big 12 and given way to Baylor, Kansas State and now TCU—all of which will likely lay claim to at least a share of the last three conference titles.
How did it happen?
How did two athletic programs that spend a nearly combined $250 million annually fall behind the Bears, Horned Frogs and Wildcats—the latter of which spends just over $59 million? Baylor and TCU, both private schools, do not release their athletic department budgets.
Well, coaching is a big part of it.
Mack Brown, the former Texas head coach, played the role of executioner in Austin as he was unable to convince the Lone Star State's biggest recruits to rock burnt orange.
For the Longhorns, it was most apparent at the quarterback position. While Texas struggled to replace Colt McCoy with David Ash and McCoy's younger brother Case, Baylor snatched up Robert Griffin III. He won a Heisman Trophy.
Texas A&M poached Johnny Manziel. He, too, left New York City as a Heisman winner—the first ever freshman to win the award.
At Oklahoma, Stoops has failed to beat his mentor, Bill Snyder, in Gaylord Memorial Stadium in each of the last two tries. He's also struggling to find a quarterback, as Trevor Knight's inconsistency issues have reared their ugly head in 2014.
Making the most out of talent is what coaching is all about. Nobody is better at that than Snyder, who rarely has recruiting classes that crack the top 50 but always seems to compete amongst the elite.
Art Briles at Baylor has been the architect of a similar turnaround. The Bears are defending champions and have a strong case for being ranked ahead of TCU in the playoff rankings.
In 2011, the Longhorns had the No. 4 recruiting class in the nation. Oklahoma was ranked 13th that year.
This season, those in that class who didn't redshirt are seniors. Here's how they've fared by year:
| Texas | 2011 | 8-5 | 4-5 | 0-4 |
| Texas | 2012 | 9-4 | 5-4 | 2-3 |
| Texas | 2013 | 8-5 | 7-2 | 1-4 |
| Texas | 2014 | 6-5 | 5-3 | 1-4 |
| Oklahoma | 2011 | 10-3 | 6-3 | 3-2 |
| Oklahoma | 2012 | 10-3 | 8-1 | 2-3 |
| Oklahoma | 2013 | 11-2 | 7-2 | 4-1 |
| Oklahoma | 2014 | 7-3 | 4-3 | 0-3 |
Obviously, Oklahoma has had far more success. Stoops is a better coach than Brown was—there's no doubt about that.
But the record against Top 25 teams is alarming. The only season in which either of the two squads didn't suffer multiple losses against ranked teams was last year's Oklahoma squad. However, the lone loss to Baylor was enough to sink the Sooners from Big 12 title contention.
Baylor's win against Texas also knocked the Longhorns out of the hunt for the Big 12 title last year in the last week of the season.
The science behind college football rankings all boils down to one formula: win big games.
Oklahoma and Texas aren't doing that. Baylor, K-State and now TCU are.
Now not only must Strong and Stoops rebuild their programs, to do so they must dethrone three teams that are in their primes.
Baylor, TCU and even the SEC's Texas A&M are quickly becoming the prime destinations for Lone Star recruits.
Even Oklahoma State now rivals Oklahoma for recruits—billionaire Boone Pickens knows how to sway youngsters from cream and crimson to orange and black.
Surprisingly, it seems as though Texas is headed in a better direction than the Sooners.
Texas' upset of West Virginia on Nov. 8, followed by a win over the Cowboys, capped off a three-game winning streak that has delivered some much-needed faith in Charlie Strong to the Austin faithful.
The Longhorns' first step will be to find a bona fide gunslinger. Whether that's Tyrone Swoopes, who's had plenty of ups and downs, or not remains to be seen. Texas signed Zach Gentry, a 4-star pro-style gunslinger, in May as part of Strong's first full class in 2015.
As for Oklahoma, its best aerial assault option may be sitting in the hangar. Texas Tech transfer Baker Mayfield, who outdid Knight by nearly every measure in the spring game, is eligible next year. He may very well challenge Knight for the starting job.
Want proof that a quarterback will get you to Big 12 supremacy?
K-State won the conference with Collin Klein and could share the title with Jake Waters this season. Baylor won it with Bryce Petty. TCU could very well do it with Trevone Boykin.
Every name on that list has been mentioned in Heisman conversations, with Klein being a finalist in 2012.
The Red River Rivalry no longer defines the elite of the Big 12. With that said, money, coaching and talent can get you back on top, and Texas and Oklahoma certainly have plenty of all three.
Now, they'll have to dethrone three teams to get there—something almost unheard of in college football history.
Recruiting information courtesy of 247Sports.
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