​

When the Board of Regents at OU and Texas yesterday empowered their respective school presidents (David Boren and Williams Powers) to explore new conference affiliations, it officially signaled the beginning of the end for the Irving-based conference. Schools rarely give the green light to pursue greener pastures and then wind up -- never mind -- remaining home.

In this case it's Pac 12 over staying put.

Despite the naive denial issued yesterday afternoon by Big 12 commish Dan Beebe:

"The actions taken today by the governing boards of the universities of Oklahoma and Texas was anticipated," Beebe said in a statement. "It is my opinion that the case for the Big 12 Conference continues to be as strong today for all of our current members as it was last year, especially considering the welfare of those to whom we owe the greatest responsibility -- the student-athletes. "We continue to apply all effort resources toward assuring our members that maintaining the Big 12 is in the best interest for their institutions."

Baghdad Bob, meet your match.

​

Every year the BCS attempts to pair the two best teams against each other in the title game, but there are always more than two best teams. This weekend kicks off the first of 35 bowl games, all but one of them absolutely meaningless. College football is the only sport on Earth where 34 teams end their season with a victory and a trophy without actually winning anything of significance.

You get it. I get it. So does Mark Cuban.

After two failed attempts to buy a Major League Baseball team, the Dallas Mavericks owner told reporters last night that he's ready to help fix college football. A 12- or 16-game playoff, fueled by his unique and aggressive fund-raising.

"It's an inefficient business where there's obviously a better way of doing it," Cuban said. "The only thing that's kept them from doing it is a lack of capital, which I can deal with. The one thing every college football fan wants you can probably create for less than it takes to buy a baseball team."

9. The Longhorns will lose Oct. 16 at Nebraska, giving Texas three consecutive losses for the first time since 1999. Seems like we're referencing that year a lot lately doesn't it?

8. Shame on you, OU fans. I know your Sooners had lost four of the previous five Red River Rivalry games, but act like you've won a game before and you might some day win one again. I watched the game on the huge screen at House of Blues and the actions of the crimson-clad fans was embarrassing. Saw two near-fights picked by OU fans and one drunk guy kept strutting up to a table of Texas fans and simulating sex with a giant, stuffed Scooby Doo while yelling "Fuck Bevo!" Huh? Another guy stole a Texas fans' foam Hook 'Em sign and found himself in a choke hold. Deservedly so.

7. OU running back DeMarco Murray is a bona fide playmaker. Not sure I saw a game-changer wearing white. Next year the Longhorns will sport the nation's No. 1 high-school running back, Cibolo's Malcolm Brown.

6. Texas quarterback Garrett Gilbert may some day be decent, but right now he's clueless as to feeling pressure or how to move around to extend a play. He has a strong arm, but for the most part he's a statue in the pocket that rarely looks away from his first option on a play.

​

Still, with pedestrian quarterbacks Garrett Gilbert and Landry Jones and what I think are two mediocre defenses, I'd be shocked if we get an instant classic. Betcha $1 the game doesn't crack the list of the best:

5. THE FLYING SOONER 2001: OU 14, UT 3. In perhaps the greatest defensive play in series history, Sooners safety Roy Williams turned Texas quarterback Chris Simms into his personal Midway ride to secure OU's victory.

4. EYE SPY 1976: UT 6, OU 6. The infamous spy game was boring on the field, but deliciously bitter off it. Two days before, Texas coach Darrell Royal accused Sooners' coach Barry Switzer of spying on Longhorn practices. Oklahoma scored a touchdown in the final minute, but botched the snap on the extra point.

​

Sloppy. Ugly. Guilty. But yet, in the end somehow satisfying.

A combined 29 points. Eight turnovers. Key plays made by two different No. 12s for the Longhorns. And the game-saving play was actually a tackle made by Texas quarterback Colt McCoy, after a brain-fart interception.

Even after a 16-13 escape over a Sam Bradford-less Oklahoma team - Karma. Toldja. - the Longhorns know this: Win and they're in.

Even though only three of the BCS' six computer polls rank Texas in the top five (stat geek Jeff Sagarin has them rated 15th), at No. 3 in the initial poll it knows that an undefeated season and a win in the Big 12 Championship Game means a trip to the National Championship Game. Florida and Alabama are ahead of Texas in the BCS, but they'll have to play each other in the SEC Championship Game.

Moral to the story ...

I am indeed a bitch.

Sincerely,

Karma

Last year the Oklahoma Sooners were whipped by the Texas Longhorns in their annual mid-October showdown in the Cotton Bowl. Both teams lost one game all season, yet somehow - inexplicably - it was Oklahoma, through a discombobulated national computer ranking, that was awarded the Big 12 Conference South championship, a berth in the conference championship game and, ultimately, a spot in college football's BCS National Championship Game opposite Florida.

45-35, anyone?

How exactly did the Sooners pull the Okie Doke through the back door? By running up the score against lesser opponents, that's how. They call it style points. We all know it's bullshit.

Hillary Whitehead

While we wait for all the Longhorns and Sooners fans to clear out of town, it's worth revisiting the scene from outside the Cotton Bowl this morning, where our photographer Hillary Whitehead trained her lens on some of the best Longhorn hairdos and Sooner cheerleader routines before the game.

Check out the slide show here. --Patrick Michels

Just watched "OU Sucks!" beat "Texas Sucks!" by 10 at this jumpin' joint on Lemmon. Don't know who, for sure, is the better quarterback -- Sam Bradford or Colt McCoy.

But I do know a couple things:

1. McCoy's roomate -- Jordan Shipley -- was the best player on the field.

2. That, until further notice, was college football's Game of the Year. – Richie Whitt

If this doesn’t get you ready for Saturday then nothing can. In fact, Longhorn, Sooner or otherwise, you could probably hear that music at a Briss and bolt out the door ready to tackle somebody.

For more Texas-OU inspiration I wrote a column in a fancy advertising section of this week’s paper product. I’d link to it but, alas, no link.

So pick up a copy. As always, it’s worth every penny. – Richie Whitt