Big 12 Conference: Will Oklahoma vs Texas Eventually Be in Another League?

This weekend's Red River Rivalry pits the Oklahoma Sooners against hated rivals Texas Longhorns in an all-out border war. Mack Brown and Bob Stoops yet again bring two talented, unbeaten squads into what has become the nation's top grudge match.

The two teams are partners in the same conference, the Big 12, but it hasn't always been that way. Before the formation of the conference in 1996, Oklahoma and Texas meet once a year from their respective homes in the Big 8 and Southwest conferences.

Considering the Big 12's recent duress, could we see the teams split up again? Could the rivals stay together while moving to a new conference?

Conference expansion and realignment is nothing new to the college football world. Periods of turmoil are followed by periods of rest and then it all starts up again. In 2003, Miami and Virgina Tech jumped from the Big East to the ACC with a splash.

Things lay fairly dormant until last year, when Nebraska and Colorado decided to leave the Big 12 for their respective reasons. Nebraska just seems like a better fit in the Big Ten after the culture change in the Big 12, and Colorado will have better luck recruiting out West than in Texas.

That move has triggered a landslide that has kept us fans guessing at every turn. TCU fled to the Big East to compete for their coveted BCS invite. Now, with the ACC looking to feed off the Big East again, TCU might be coming to the Big 12 before ever even playing a Big East game. Utah finally got the BCS invite is was looking for in the Pac-12. Texas A&M stepped out of Texas' shadow and into an even larger one cast by the SEC.

Perhaps the biggest alleged move (in this part of the country, that is) was a four-team departure from the Big 12 to the Pac-12 by the likes of Oklahoma, Oklahoma State, Texas and Texas Tech. The move seemed inevitable for a time and had us all pondering some crazy pod system inside a 16-team mega-super-conference and having to stay up to the wee hours just to watch our teams play on the West Coast.

I hate to put this in print, because every day seems to have a new twist, but it looks like the Big 12's top dogs, Oklahoma and Texas, are committed to repairing the conference. The decision by OU president David Boren to focus on our own conference came after the Pac-12 announced they were done with expansion.

So while it may not have been their first choice, its a decision that most fans around here are relieved to have seen made. I don't mind being someone's second choice for a prom date, at least I get to go, right?

Once the Pac-12 shut its doors, Boren quickly called for the head of current Big 12 commissioner Dan Bebe, labeling him as the scapegoat for the whole debacle. Bebe was seen as a Texas coddler, allowing them to create the Longhorn Network and seemingly always playing favorites to the Austin university. It's impossible to prove his intent, but it is fair to at least label him "passive," as he has allowed three different conferences to pick apart his own. 

Chuck Neinas was brought in to right the ship on an interim basis. The former Big 8 commissioner (1971 to 1980) currently runs a sports consulting company in his own name that specializes in conference movement and TV contracts. Sounds like the man for the job, if you ask me. His first move, inviting TCU to the conference, successfully replaces Texas A&M and keeps the league at 10 teams.

The only question remaining is whether or not Missouri will stay. They have fancied a move to the SEC, but it is becoming more unlikely by the day that the move won't happen. The SEC is going to weigh its options for a 14th team.

This smells a lot like last season, when the Tigers tried to ride Nebraska's coat tails to the Big 10.That didn't work either. The Big 12 is the right place for Missouri. A move to the SEC would have them singing the beat-down blues on a weekly basis. They would do well to let their former conference mates, Texas A&M, do the singing.

So for now, it seems all is well and the Red River Rivalry is safe and sound in the Big 12. The SEC has 13 teams, the Big Ten has 12 teams and the Big 12 has 10 teams.

Try explaining that to someone who doesn't follow the sport!