The Red River Revivalry

The Big 12 Goes Divisionless

It has happened. In an executive move, Big 12 Commissioner Dan Beebe has decided to settle the decision of which team is best in the South by bumping Missouri from the game and staging a rematch between Texas and Oklahoma.

"I talked with Mack [Brown] and Bob [Stoops] and they agreed with me that it was a smart decision," said Beebe. "Mack was especially enthusiastic because the BCS had once before put Bob and his Sooners in a championship game after a loss."

BCS Doomsday scenarios were made a little brighter by the decision. All the "what-ifs" should Missouri win the Big 12 were dropped. We noted that now it would be nearly impossible to go to back into the BCS Championship without winning your conference; that is unless Oregon State wins one more time and USC gets alot of help from Auburn, Florida State, Oklahoma State, and Baylor.

Johann, who usually covers all things hockey, actually spent some time over here with us and noted that fans' wish for a playoff had finally arrived with the winner of the Big 12 and the SEC meeting in Miami.

My brother Christian and I were bouncing ideas off of each other trying to figure out what the future implications of this move will be. We noted in Beebe's press release this quote: "The Big 12 is going to go divisionless from here on out. We have decided that divisions have become outmoded both when it comes to deciding our champion and when it comes to scheduling."

What would the scheduling be like? We looked at the models other conference follow. An 11-game round robin would probably be too extensive, we decided. The Big Ten seems to do an okay job with each team having two permanent rivalries and rotating through six of the other eight teams each year. We came up with a few potential models ourselves.

1) The Dodechahedron
The name sounds more complicated than it actually is. Imagine a dodecahedron, we'll give you time to google it. Each face represents a team and each edge represents a permanent rivalry. Because each face is a pentagon, each team will have five permanent rivals (like a unique division) and will rotate through three of the other six teams each year.

Okay, maybe it is MORE complicated than it sounds. We have found though, that it creates a very balanced schedule. Whereas now if one division is super strong and one is ultra week the difference is minimal in conference record; with The Dodecahedron, teams will play against a mosaic of teams across the conference.

2) Mini-Divisions
We came up with this one a little before looking at the Big Ten model. This one calls for putting teams into four groups of three, or mini-divisions. Teams have two permanent rivalries. Each group plays every team in a second group at home and every team in a third group away. The first and fourth groups do not play each other, but the next year they cycle between who is playing whom home, away, or at all.

This model is more of a hybrid between divisions and the full blown Dodecahedron so we thought Beebe might go with this to appease traditionalists in Big 12 country.

Also, my brother Christian talked to me for half an hour about the benefits of playing whole divisions home or away and the potential to make the Big 12 Championship a rematch of an early season game rather than a recent conference game. I didn't really understand all (or any) of what he said.

3) Divisions
The third option we came up with because we recognize that all important decisions must have more than two options. This option is banking on the idea that Beebe has actually lost it and that he really doesn't have a plan. In absence of a plan he may decide to keep with this stalwart division schema.

If Beebe really doesn't have a plan he can certainly look here. Christian has already emailed him (and his secretary) and detailed outline of our models as well as other models around the nation.

After listening to Beebe respond to a question concerning the third coach involved, Gary Pinkel of Missouri, we were even more assured of the possibility that the Big 12 will keep its divisions. "Mr. Pinkel and I don't always see eye to eye. I decided not to contact Gary about this decision because I knew he'd tell me 'no.' I hope he is not mad and understands that it is the best thing for the conference."

Conclusion
So, we're excited to watch this Red River Revilvary which will be played at another neutral field in Missouri. The story lines will be immense following these two teams paths back to the top after two tough losses to top ranked teams.

With Texas No. 2 and No. 1 Alabama expected to lose before the season ends, a close loss to Oklahoma in the Big 12 Championship may not knock them down too far, especially if Florida losses one of its last two games. Oklahoma and Texas may have to ship their rivalry, via FedEx, to determine which team is No. 1 with a best-of-three conclusion in Miami. Fans will certainly pack the Orange Bowl for some Red River Redundancy.