Big 12 Conference: Will Realignment Taint Teams' 2011 Seasons?

This season, the Big 12 conference is playing without the Nebraska Cornhuskers and the Colorado Buffaloes, but that does not mean that this conference is no longer an elite conference. 

The winner of the Big 12 will undoubtedly have rightfully earned a trip to a BCS bowl. 

Yes, losing Nebraska has weakened the Big 12. There is no doubting that.

However, this is a conference that features a good amount of top 25 teams, including the top-ranked team in the nation, the Oklahoma Sooners. 

After this weekend, there really is no doubt that Oklahoma deserves that top ranking after going to Florida State and beating the Seminoles, who were ranked No. 5.

This win was really impressive for the top-ranked Sooners. 

OU faced a hostile, record crowd in Tallahassee and it faced a very good, tough FSU defense.

FSU's defense features a heck of a defensive line with Brandon Jenkins, Bjoern Werner, Everett Dawkins and Anthony McCloud.

With a little over nine minutes to go in the fourth quarter, the Seminoles tied it and Doak Campbell Stadium went nuts. It was a tough situation for any QB to be in.

However, veteran quarterback Landry Jones was able to lead the Sooners to a huge victory with a huge third-and-12 conversion to wide receiver Ryan Broyles and a 37-yard touchdown pass to Kenny Stills

This conference also included a very talented Texas A&M Aggie team that has one of the best offenses in the game, led by quarterback Ryan Tannehill and wide receiver Jeff Fuller. They are currently ranked No. 8 by the Associated Press. 

Oklahoma State is another team in the top 10 that represents the Big 12.

A conference that features three top 10 teams is not a conference that is fun to play in.

The list of solid teams does not end there for the conference.

The Texas Longhorns are back on the winning track after a road victory against the UCLA Bruins and they are ranked No. 19 by the AP.

The Longhorns had yet another great recruiting season that found them amongst the top schools in the nation at getting top four- and five-star recruits. They were ranked No. 3 by Rivals.

The Baylor Bears, who have been an up-and -program, have cracked the top 25 after having a very good opening-game win against the TCU Horned Frogs and an expected beat down of Stephen F. Austin.

Even the teams not ranked are still very good.

Texas Tech's starting quarterback Seth Doege set an NCAA record Saturday, completing 40-of-44 passes. Good for a record-breaking 90.9 percent completion percentage.

To put his performance in perspective, he had more touchdown passes (5) than incomplete passes.

The Missouri Tigers were ranked before their overtime loss on the road against Arizona State. Any game on the road against another team in a BCS conference is a very tough task and is often overlooked. 

The Big 12 still has a lot of competitive football teams this year and losing Nebraska and Colorado should not harm its credibility as a strong, top football conference.