There's a story on ESPN.com today about OU's move to the SEC and whether it will thrive or become an afterthought, like Nebraska. The whole story is worth reading, but one quote caught my attention.
The legendary Osborne eventually led the Cornhuskers to three national titles in the 1990s before retiring in 1997. A decade later, he became Nebraska's athletic director and helped guide Nebraska's move from the Big 12 to the Big Ten.
"At the time, the South Division of the Big 12 had agreed in principle to join the Pac-12. And we hadn't known anything about it," said Osborne, now 87. "We knew Colorado was trying to leave. We knew that Missouri was trying to leave. We were looking at the fact that, well, we're going to be sitting here on an island. We felt the Big Ten represented stability and we didn't like the fragmentation of what appeared to be the Big 12. That's why we left. We had a lot of connection to Big 12 schools and didn't particularly want to leave them, but we just felt like things weren't holding together very well."
Am I wrong, or is that some real bullsht revisionist history? Nebraska was the first domino to fall in all of college athletics realignment. I thought the Big 12 South's flirtation with the Pac came after that.
The Cornhuskers were once a college football force, but have faded away since joining the Big Ten. Is the same fate in store for the Sooners?
www.espn.com