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Big 12 ready to surpass SEC in football?
Written by CHUCK CARLTON
The Dallas Morning News
Posted on 07.02.09
CommentsFifteen years after its creation, the Big 12 stands on the brink of fulfilling the great expectations predicted at its birth.
In February 1994, the combination of the Big Eight and many of the top programs from the Southwest Conference seemed like great football synergy.
Texas. Oklahoma. Nebraska. Texas A&M. Colorado. While the conference has been more than competitive since its inception — producing three outright or shared national champions since it began play in 1996 — its best may be directly ahead.
There's just one obstacle: the Southeastern Conference. Or maybe two, if you count conventional wisdom.
Florida's 24-14 win gave a factual basis to the perception that the Big 12 wasn't ready to leapfrog the SEC. Ole Miss' 47-34 win over Texas Tech in the AT&T Cotton Bowl Classic also didn't help the Big 12's case.
That said, Texas coach Mack Brown believes the Big 12 has never been more competitive.
"The difference is that the entire league is better," Brown said. "Everybody talks about the SEC. You can actually lose to anybody in this league. That wasn't the case 12 years or probably not even four years ago."
So 2009 might be the year when the Big 12 takes the final step in performance and perception.
"We could be there," said Nebraska athletics director Tom Osborne, who went 255-49-3 and won three national titles as a coach.
He understands the conventional wisdom about the SEC.
"But I tell you it (Big 12) is going to be comparable this year," he said.
Working in the Big 12's favor:
Three teams — Oklahoma, Texas and Oklahoma State — will probably open the season in the top 10. And excellence hasn't been limited to a few. Since the conference's formation, eight of the 12 teams have been ranked in the Associated Press poll's top five during November.
The conference featured four of the five vote-getters for the 2008 Heisman Trophy, including winner Sam Bradford of Oklahoma and runner-up Colt McCoy. Both return this season.
"The offensive firepower and the quarterback capability in the last three years have been tremendous," Osborne said. "It seemed like every team had a great quarterback and really moved the ball."
Seven Big 12 players were selected in the first round of this year's NFL draft, a high-water mark. That total might just be the beginning. Todd McShay's 2010 mock draft for ESPN, released in late April, suggested the waiting area in New York could resemble a Big 12 media day. His projection: nine of the first 10 picks coming from the conference.
Steve Hatchell, the first Big 12 commissioner, remembers the early optimism in the mid-90s.
"I don't think there was one doubting voice for the present and future strength of the conference," Hatchell said.
For now, the SEC holds the bragging rights with wins in the past three BCS title games and unmatched fan fervor. Even Osborne acknowledged that he had never seen anything as intense as an in-state recruiting battle between Auburn and Alabama.
"If the benchmark is the SEC, the Big 12 has done great things," said Tony Barnhart of CBS and the respected Mr. College Football blog. "But they aren't there yet. The top of the league — Texas and Oklahoma — is very competitive."
But the conference has a couple problems in Barnhart's opinion. One involves the struggles of some traditional powers.
"Texas A&M ain't Texas A&M, and Nebraska ain't Nebraska," he said.
The bottom of the conference could be stronger, Barnhart said, although he noted Baylor's recent improvement.
Echoing a complaint frequently heard in SEC country, he thinks the defenses need to improve. Texas, at 51st nationally, possessed the Big 12's best defense.
The conference will get a chance for an early on-the-field statement this season. Oklahoma State plays host to traditional SEC power Georgia in its season opener.
It will give a glimpse at how much the conference has evolved since 1996.
Back then, Nebraska and Texas A&M were dominant.
Then Texas hired Brown from North Carolina in 1998 after a 10-1 regular season. A year later, Florida defensive coordinator Bob Stoops replaced John Blake at Oklahoma. And two historic programs began resurgences that would lead to national titles.
Stoops' first offensive coordinator in Norman, Okla., an untraditional coach named Mike Leach with an untraditional offense, became the godfather of the passing game that has transformed the conference.
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