The Big 12 Conference Shrinking, the PAC-10 Growing

Now that the Big 12 Football Conference is becoming a thing of the past, fans fear that some of the great rivalry games such as the Oklahoma Sooners vs.The Nebraska Cornhuskers, could become history as well.

The break up began when the Colorado Buffalos announced this week they were joining the PAC-10. The Nebraska Cornhuskers then followed suit.

PAC-10 teams are: University of Arizona; Arizona State University; University of California Berkeley; University of Oregon; Oregon State University; Stanford University; University of California, Los Angeles; University of Southern California; University of Washington, and Washington State University.

Since the announcements PAC-10 Commissioner Larry Scott has been meeting with the Oklahoma and Texas teams extending invitations to join the conference.

This week, the school's board of regents will hold meetings to decide who is going to do what.

The Texas teams are expected to announce first what they are going to do and the Oklahoma teams are expected to follow.

The root of the potential demise of the Big 12 is money and television contracts.

Big 12 Commissioner Dan Beebe is claiming that he can produce new television contracts in the amount of $17 million to keep the 10 remaining teams together.

Before the Big 12 Conference there was the Big 8.

The roots of the Big 8 began in 1907 as the Missouri Valley Intercollegiate Athletic Association (MVIAA).

The MVIAA became known as the Big 8 in 1964 and the conference champion traveled to Florida to compete in the Orange Bowl Annually.

Many Sooner and Cornhusker fans remember the classic match ups of the teams in the Orange Bowl with Barry Switzer and Tom Osborne in charge.

The conference was comprised of the Oklahoma Sooners,Cornhuskers, Oklahoma State Cowboys, Missouri Tigers, Kansas State Wildcats, Kansas Jayhawks, Iowa State Cyclones and the Buffalos.

In 1996 the Texas Longhorns, Texas Tech, Texas A.M. Aggies and the Baylor Bears joined and the Big 12 Conference was born as was the Oklahoma Texas rivalry.

There is mixed reaction from fans in the region, with some commenting that current Big 12 teams are easily accessible from Oklahoma where as PAC-10 teams are too far away for most to travel to on a regular basis, therefore making the fans the victims of this break up.

Fans here in Oklahoma do not have pro team of our own to cheer for so we take our Cowboys and Sooners seriously and large number of the games are sold out.

I have been able to attend only two games so far in my life, a Sooners vs. Jayhawk game in Norman back when Jason White was leading the crimson and cream, and later a Cowboys vs. Aggies game in Stillwater, with Zac Robinson at the helm and Dez Bryant making catches. To see slideshow click here

What ever the outcome, rest assured, the almighty dollar will prevail as the champion.