Knowing that football is a cyclical game, it must always be evolving. This is no different for the Big XII. However, could we be witnesses of a traditionally pass heavy conference move back to the rushing attack in a more balanced offense?
Who? The Lady Bears of Baylor. What? Bruiser is the fuzzy one; Baylor also has real bears and a real bear habitat. (I guess it's better than ferrets...) Where? Waco, Texas, where Dr. Pepper was...
In the 1970s, Pete Frame produced a series of "family trees" for rock bands that have become an iconic part of Rock n Roll history. These linear representation of the lineups made the often chaotic membership of many iconic bands at least reasonably understandable. Inspired by this, I decided to create my own version of one of these "family trees" of the Big XII conference (including its antecedents, the Southwest Conference and Missouri Valley Intercollegiate Athletic Association). The goal was to understand the bizarre and circuitous route that Missouri (and Texas A&M) have traveled to reach the Southeastern Conference. A larger version can be found here.
What are the greatest moments in Big XII conference history? Here's a team-by-team breakdown.
Nebraska will become the 12th member of the Big Ten Conference. NU's Board of Regents voted unanimously today to apply for admission into the conference, and acceptance by the conference has to be considered a mere formality. MSU is 0-3 all-time against the Cornhuskers in football. Two of the losses were blowouts--in a home-and-home series in 1995-96 (near the height of Nebraska's football powers)--and the third came in the 2003 Alamo Bowl, which until I wrote this sentence never actually happened. Nebraska basketball, conversely, is terrible. Also, for what it's worth, legendary NU football coach Bob Devaney started his coaching career at MSU during the Biggie Munn era. The one big surprise here is that Nebraska is apparently looking to start playing in the Big Ten in 2011, one year earlier than most thought. We'll see. UPDATE: Nebraska will be a member as of July 1, 2011. And lest you somehow think expansion is all over, today Notre Dame cancelled its much-anticipated Yankee Stadium game against Army, which would have been played in 2013. (The teams will still play there this fall.) Coincidence, or making room for a conference schedule? We'll see . . .
Colorado puts another nail in the coffin of the Big XII and announces it will join the PAC-10 conference.
A primer for Mizzou baseball in the Big XII Tournament.
