We kindof included OU last week for Thanksgiving, so this week let's talk Championships!
Interesting little tidbit here: Saturday's Big 12 Championship game in Dallas, will be the last chance for Nebraska to capture a conference title in this decade. The last Big 12 Championship game will mark the third time this decade that Nebraska will have a shot to win the trophy, having played for it in both 2006 and 2009. Hard to imagine that the 1950s was the last decade that Big Red didn't earn a single conference crown! Damn the Callahan era for having one last shot from the grave to end yet another long and proud Husker streak.
You also have to wonder if the Big 12 Championship game will ever return? Personally, I like conference title games. I think it's the smart move when you have more than a few good teams in a conference. I've always hated ties, and I don't like how a conference like this year's Big Ten had to decide the winner based on BCS rank. In the old days of the Big 8, it was either going to be Oklahoma or Nebraska 99% of the time. So the game between those two teams was enough. But in today's game, there are too many ways that a log-jam can occur at the top of a conference. (Much like the BCS.) I'm glad that a conference title game is moving with us to the Big Ten, and that our conference champs will continue to be decided on the field.
This last installment of the Flashbax series can be your chance to recollect and wax historic about conference title games of the past 15 years. I'm not going to single one particular game out, but rather post a series of moments from the past and just let people start posting. How many of you have been to a conference title game? What did you think?
Tally ho! ( I don't know why I typed that, just felt good..)
Often times, I like to scan through Youtube, and revisit Husker glory days of the past. One of my favortite vids comes from the 1997 Big 12 Title game versus Texas A+M. (I love how the A+M fan predicts a 24-17 win like it's money in the bank. Didn't you realize who you were playing???) Watching this recap reminds me that Scott Frost was one tough sonofabitch! Sometimes, talent (Martinez) isn't as valuable as pure grit (Frost).
A few years later, Nebraska was back in the title game as we'd come to expect. This one turned out a bit differently than these damned Texas games of late. Love watching Buckhalter rumbling into the endzone, and Bevo dropping a steamer on the field. Kinda like this year's Texas team, right? Ha!
On to 2006, and that Callanan guy. Oklahoma has won the most Big 12 titles since the conference was formed, and this game was their first of three straight titles to come, and one of six total. A bullshit non-safety call, and Zac Taylor throwing multiple, crucial red-zone INTs sealed this one for Boomer Sooner. Dang.
And then....yeah. This one.
What games to you remember the most?
I think for me the singular moment that will stick throughout the years is Suh throwing McCoy into the back field like a ragdoll. That's when I think millions of people saw what we already knew, and realized that Suh wasn't a normal human being. What a great and iconic image! Yeah, we lost....but that snapshot sort of captured the 2009 season. Hopefully this year's result will heal that wound, and the last two seasons of Husker Football in the Big 12 will be remembered fondly...at least by us Big Red fans!
Post away, and thanks to everyone who shared stories for this series. I really enjoyed hearing about all of the different things people have gone through to watch Husker Football in this league over the years. Great stuff!