Which rivalry would you prefer?
by Jordan Esco on May 13, 2010 2:40 PM CDT
in General Sports
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PrintMuch like the picture of The King over there implies, all this conference realignment mumbo jumbo just gives me a headache. At this point in the process, there is WAY too much speculation about what could/should/will/ happen. However, it has lead to an interesting topic that originated in the comments of another story here on C&C Machine. There has been some talk about if OU were to leave the Big 12, whether or not the state of Oklahoma would dictate that OU and OSU be a package deal (much like it's believed Texas would do with the whorns and aTm). Now I'm really not interested in getting into the legalities of it, but I am interested in what my fellow Sooner fans would think about possibly splitting up OU and OSU.
If (and admittedly at this point it's a big if) for the scenario I'm proposing, OU and OSU were split up and Nebraska were to accept an offer from the Big 10. Would you prefer OU maintained the Bedlam series, which OU has completely dominated (81-16-7), or would you prefer OU renewed it's annual clash with Nebraska?
Personally, when your "rival" would have to beat you 65 years in a row just to draw the series even can you really even call them a "rival?" Now don't get me wrong, I love beating the Pukes every year to close out our season but I really miss the Nebraska rivalry. For me, splitting up OU and NU was one of the worst things about the Big 12 and that's coming from someone who is barely old enough to remember some of those great games from the 70s and 80s. There's a level of respect among (most) OU and NU fans which I believe is due to many reasons, but one important reason being NU proved a more than worthy adversary over the years. That same level of respect does not exist among OU and OSU fans also for many reasons, but for essentially the exact opposite reason of the Huskers. OSU has never proved, as evidenced by the all time series record referenced above, to be a worthy opponent yet expect to receive a similar level of respect simply due to the fact that we both reside in the same state.
So Sooner fans, I ask you. Which rivalry would you prefer?
Side note - this could really be it's own FanPost, but feel free to address it in the comments. If the Big 12 were to remain in existence, would you prefer the conference to realign the divisions to split up OU and TX? From where I sit, it makes no sense to have the two best teams year in and year out not fight over one spot to get to a game and destroy whatever sacrificial lamb the North offers up that year. Wouldn't it make more sense to realign, put OU in the North and let OU and TX match up in the conference championship game every year? I realize this isn't exactly a new idea (nor is it without flaws), but given all the talk of expansion it would seem that now is as good a time as any to actually make this happen.
Discuss.
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rivalry?
Sorry, but I have to question you’re use of the word rivalry. OU v Pukettes isn’t even close to a rivalry. A rivalry implies that both teams take each other seriously and that their opponent actually has a decent chance of winning.
History says that OU wins this yearly requirement 78% of the time. I would think that the term rivalry more closely resemble 40%, 45%, or 50%. That’s simply not the case when it comes to those pretenders in stoolwater.
This past year, they claimed to have the best team they have had in forever, and OU barely raised a sweat winning 27-0. Enough said.
Now, Nebraska is a rivalry. OU v Nebraska have provided some of the best games in the history of college football. I agree that it was a CRIME when the Big 12 decided to take away a yearly classic in college football.
I have personally attended games, home and away, involving both schools, and there is no comparison. Fans of Nebraska understand the game of football, the historical significance of the game, and I have been treated with respect – win or lose. Respect is not a word in the vocabulary of a puke fan.
Nebraska fans win with class, and lose with class. Puke fans whine like babies when they lose, and on the rare occasion when they upset the Sooners, it becomes the greatest victory of all time – IN THEIR MIND.
So, just to be clear, give me Nebraska. While I would miss the yearly victory against an in-state school, the thrill of beating Nebraska far outweighs the other.
Team FIRST, Effort SECOND, Talent THIRD, Selfish NEVER
I imagine the 2 people
who voted for OSU just like that its pretty much a guaranteed win for OU every year. I voted for Nebraska because I always enjoy matchups of big programs.
How about OU becoming an Independent?
Heard that Berry Tramel brought that up a day or two ago on the radio. Sounds great to me. Wouldn’t have to worry about bringing the aggies along and could schedule Texas and Nebraska every year (and not schedule OSU). I’m sick of hearing the word ’Bedlam" year round and that certainly bring an end to that…
Nice idea, but...
it would never work for us. True, Sooner fans are loyal and will follow their team from anywhere. However, we just don’t cover the TV market to make this financially feasible. Additionally, though I’ve never understood it myself, we have never attained any level of real national respect like Notre Dame has, or like Texas grudgingly gets. Outside of Nebraska, we seem to be almost universally deplored by college football fans. So we just don’t have the nation-wide fan base we would need. That formula has worked to a degree for ND (I’d suggest that half the folks who tune in to NBC for ND games do so to see if Notre Dame will lose). There just aren’t enough non-OU people interested in watching us every week, and without that, we would have no bargaining leverage to try to get our own BCS deal, or big TV contracts, or any of that.
You do know that
The Sooners were NBC’s first choice over ND many years back don’t you?
"The 2010 Rangers...winning despite Ron Washington"
In the interest of quicker games Ron should just tell the ump he's pulling the Feliz card and the ump should rule the inning over.--Sherman McCoy on Sept. 4, 2009
In his defense, you are a retarded cuntbag by LiamP on Mar 4, 2010
And yet...
it didn’t happen then, when apparently the times were much more favorable for us. Notice that in all of these expansion discussions, no one is asking US to move to their conference. The Big 10 and SEC are willing to talk to Texas about jumping ship, apparently, but not us? Nebraska and Missouri get consideration for a move, and not us? Granted, I haven’t followed the expansion discussions religiously, but I’ve heard many different scenarios, none of which has us being asked to move anywhere.
Don’t get me wrong, I think we’re awesome…but let’s keep some realism and perspective. (Oh, and for the record, I don’t care where we end up, as long as we have a realistic opportunity to win national championships every year.)
I addressed this very topic in a Fan Post
about 3 weeks ago. As far as I am concerned, the OU-OSU rivalry is and always has been much more overblown than it really should be…mostly because they’re the other big in-state school, so all the local media have a vested interest in blowing it out of proportion, and because there are too many OSU fans, for whom it always has and always will mean about 1000x more than it does to your typical OU fan. This is further evidenced by their pathetic attempts to stack their home-field advantage by not selling single-game tickets for OU-OSU in Stillwater. We never have done anything so bush-league, and I hope we never do.
Wrestling? Basketball? Baseball? Other sports?
These include rivalries that might be missed by others.
Fair point
And not one forgetten. It’s just easier in pretty much every other sport to continue the Bedlam games because the schedules of the respective sports include more games than the football schedule.
"We call him The Hammer." - Bob Stoops on Ronnell Lewis
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