FanPost

Longhorns' Football Legacy in Big 12 (The Numbers)

Since its inception, the Big 12 has really proven to be the Big 2.  The past 14 seasons have belonged almost entirely to South Division teams Texas and Oklahoma (while many in 1996 perhaps would have predicted the league would be dominated by the North's Nebraska and Colorado).

I'll try to keep this to ten bullet points, but if there happens to be an eleventh, let's still think of it as the traditional ten.

  • In 1996, who would have believed Texas would go 8-1 vs. Nebraska?  (6-0 regular season and 2-1 in conference championships.)  Obviously it was a nice 1-0 start to the series, but the chant "37-27" has since been replaced by "41-38."  As good as the Big 12 has been to Texas, it has been equally bad for Nebraska, despite a weak division.  Remember when Nebraska's standards dictated that their coach be fired after a 9-win season?  In 1996, who would have believed the Huskers would panic and ditch the run for a West Coast system?  Rarely have the breaks gone NU's way.  While the series vs Texas was lopsided in the Win-Loss column, the average score of 23-19 in those games was much closer as the Longhorns won some nail-biters.  The last meeting certainly was no different.
  • Texas is 38-9 vs. Big 12 North Teams, including 14-0 vs. Kansas and Iowa State combined.
     53-17 vs. Big 12 South (26-2 vs Baylor and OSU combined). 
    Surprisingly, the team that has fared the best vs. Texas is NOT Oklahoma, nor is the team even in the South Division.

    8-0   vs. Kansas..............[total points 372-128 (avg: W 47-16) ]
    6-0   vs. Iowa State..........[total points 252-120 (avg: W 42-20) ]
    13-1 vs. Baylor................[total points 627-180 (avg: W 45-13) ]
    13-1 vs. Oklahoma State..[total points 563-302 (avg: W 40-22) ]
    8-1   vs. Nebraska...........[total points 208-173 (avg: W 23-19) ]
    7-1   vs. Missouri............[total points 326-157 (avg: W 41-20) ]
    7-3   vs. Colorado............[total points 379-190 (avg: W 42-21) ]
    10-4 vs. Texas A&M.......[total points 470-285 (avg: W 34-20) ]
    10-4 vs. Texas Tech.......[total points 557-386 (avg: W 40-28) ]
    7-7   vs. Oklahoma.........[total points 335-372 (avg: L 24-27) ]
    2-4   vs. Kansas State....[total points 128-212 (avg: L 21-35) ]
  • The Longhorns first kept a Pac-10 school out of the Rose Bowl in 2005, a feat that may become an annual occurrence, albeit because Texas would be in the same conference.  A reminder to DeLoss Dodds, when negotiating with the soon to be Pac-Tex, don't forget the "no Holiday Bowls" clause.  Rose and Cotton should do.  If Nebraska ever made it through the Big Ten (which may technically be the new "Big Twelve" just to rub it in) and reached the Rose Bowl, what if Texas was on the opposite sidelines ready to relive some memories for 4 quarters?  Derek Lewis, Major Applewhite, Ryan Bailey, and Hunter Lawrence could flip the coin.  Coin flips are reviewable, right?
  • Dennis Franchione (2-3 vs UT) and Ron Prince (2-0 vs UT) each won their final two games against the Longhorns before being fired.  They should have pointed to the fact that 6 other Big 12 teams have not even beaten Texas twice in the conference's 14 years.  (21 past and present coaches have not won a conference game against the Horns.)
  • Texas entered the first Big 12 season, with an all-time record of 52-33-5 in the Red River Rivalry/Shootout.  Texas has maintained the +19 advantage (59-40-5).  Despite the parity for the past 14 years, the Sooners have distinct hardware advantages when comparing conference championships** (OU 6, UT 3) and Employee of the Month awards at Big Red Sports & Imports (OU 2, UT 0).  **Only half of the Big 12 has won a conference title.  5 teams have never even been to the title game.
  • Texas is 13-0 vs. the former SWC teams it left behind and 2-2 vs. Arkansas.
    9-0 vs. Rice
    3-0 vs. Houston
    1-0 vs. TCU
     n/a vs. SMU
  • In 14 seasons, the conference has produced 3 National Champions as Texas is tied with OU and Nebraska with one apiece.  Texas is 1-1.  Nebraska is 1-1.  OU is 1-3.  The SWC produced just 2 more champions over a span of 82 seasons (Texas 3, A&M 1, TCU 1).
  • Technically Bill Snyder is the only Head Coach who was with his current team when the conference began play in 1996, but no school has had fewer than 2 coaches.  Only Baylor has had more coaching changes than Nebraska.

    5 - Baylor
    4 - Nebraska
    4 - Kansas
    3 - Iowa State
    3 - Texas A&M
    3 - Oklahoma State
    3 - Texas Tech
    3 - Colorado
    3(2) - Kansas State
    2 - Missouri
    2 - Oklahoma
    2 - Texas
  • As recently announced, Cowboy Stadium is scheduled to also host the 2010, 2011, 2012 and 2013 Big 12 title games.  If someone has Dan Beebe or Jerry Jones' email, you may want to give them a heads up.
  • I seem to be one note shy.  May need to see if the Mountain West has one I can borrow.

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