The college football national championship is being played tonight in south Florida between Indiana and Miami. And for the third straight year, there is no Big 12 team to be found.
In fact, over the last 15 years, there has been only one team from the Big 12 to make it to the final game which was TCU back in 2022. And of course, we all know how that game went down due to it being one of the most-lopsided games in championship history.
Big 12 National Championship Game Drought Goes Way Back
Prior to the Horned Frogs making it, you’d have to go all the way back before the playoff existed to find the last Big 12 team to play in the big game. It was the 2009 Texas team led by Colt McCoy that faced Alabama in the 2010 BCS national championship game.
And much like TCU, that also was a memorable game due to the fact that Colt McCoy got hurt early and left everyone wondering what would have happened if he didn’t go down. Either way, it’s safe to say that the last two times a Big 12 team has played in a title game, it hasn’t been remembered in a good way.
Forget about just playing in a title game, it’s been 20 years since the Big 12 has actually brought home a National Championship (2005 Texas). That is way too long of a drought. For a conference that thrives in basketball and bringing home championships, it would be nice to have football right there with it.
I get that it’s comparing apples to oranges but no matter how you slice it, something needs to change. With Texas and Oklahoma gone, it left a void in the conference. Both programs had rich history despite the ups and downs of the Longhorns program over the last decade and a half. But even they seemed to figure things out a little bit towards the end there.
As for Oklahoma, for years they were the gold standard of the Big 12 and at one point won six straight conference titles. But those days are long gone and this conference, and college football, in general look a lot different.
SEC Football Has Issues Too
Just look at the SEC’s recent struggles just getting to the championship game. For years, it seemed like every year they had a team playing for it all and now it’s been three years since they have had a team make to the final game. And that’s coming from conference that got five teams in the playoff this year.
Now the Big 12 doesn’t get that kind of treatment from the playoff committee. Five teams? The Big 12 would be lucky to even get two in under any circumstance. It’s important that one of these programs steps up and tries to be the big dog.
Who Will Step Up?!
The easy answer here would be Texas Tech. They have the resources and are willing to spend to put together a championship caliber team. This past season, they ran through the Big 12 and beat the second-best team (BYU) with ease.
However, the playoff was a completely different story. Texas Tech’s offense looked awful against Oregon, and no offense to Oregon, but their defense wasn’t even as good as Texas Tech’s. But to Tech’s credit, they didn’t sit on their hands and pout, they went out and got themselves a quarterback with Brendan Sorsby and were able to reload across the board.
The time for one and done is over for this conference, it has to be. We need a team to get into the playoff, make some noise and carry that Big 12 banner. The only way to change people’s minds about the conference is by winning playoff games.
Whether it’s Texas Tech, BYU, Arizona State or whoever else, one of these schools needs to step up. The Big 12 doesn’t get the benefit of the doubt like some of these other conferences do. When the conference fails to win a playoff game or gets embarrassed in one, it hurts the perception of the Big 12.
So while you are enjoying the game tonight, think about how much more enjoyable it would be to have a Big 12 team in there to root for. It would be an opportunity to erase all those narratives and to shut the talking heads up. I just hope by this time in 2027, we will be talking about Big 12 football still, and right so many wrongs.
