Oklahoma Sooners Realize They Do Not Need the Texas Longhorns Any More

A year ago the leadership for the Okahoma Sooners believed they needed the Texas Longhorns because the Red River Rivalry was the best matchup in the country year-in and year-out. 

That was the reason they simply sat back and let Texas decide whether the Sooners would go to the PAC-12 or stay in the Big XII. 

Nearly everyone thought the Longhorns would create a favorable package to get OU, Oklahoma State, Texas and Texas Tech to the West Coast League. 

Then at the last minute, the Texas leadership sold out everyone for the opportunity to make more money. 

Texas A&M was caught unprepared for this sudden change and found themselves stuck again in the Big XII, thanks to the political pressure in the Texas state legislature. 

Once the Aggies realized just how far UT would go to promote their own interests over everyone else's, they decided to pack up and move to the SEC.

While this soap opera has played out, president David Boren, athletic director Joe Castiglione, and head coach Bob Stoops began to recognize that the future of the Oklahoma Sooners had to be controlled by Oklahoma. 

The Sooners really had looked forward to being paired up with a conference with such academic superpowers as UC-Berkeley and Stanford. 

This opportunity was lost when Texas gave up the PAC once they were assured of increased income by staying within the Big XII. 

With A&M deciding to go out on their own, this was just the break the Oklahoma leadership needed to create another opportunity to work out a deal with the PAC. 

This time they concluded that the Sooners might have to give up their ties to the University of Texas since Texas was interested only in what will benefit Texas. 

Once realized, the previous loss of the rivalry with Nebraska finally convinced the OU administration that life goes on even with the sacrifice of long-term historical relationships.

Next Monday the Oklahoma University's Board of Regents will meet to decide the future of the Sooners, the Big XII and quite possibly the arrival of the 16-team Super Conferences. 

Whatever they decide, this time it won't matter what the University of Texas wants.