For the last fifteen years, the Big 12 Conference has been the conference that gets picked apart. First, it was Colorado going to the Pac 12 , Nebraska leaving for the Big 10, and Texas A&M, and Missouri leaving for the SEC. Later, it was Texas and Oklahoma also leaving for the SEC.
It wasn’t until 2021 when Big 12 pulled teams, first with UCF, Cincinnati, and Houston for the AAC and BYU, an Independent. This past summer, they picked off Colorado, Utah, Arizona, and Arizona State from the Pac 12.
Through all of this, there have been eight schools who have remained in the conference, and they have nicknamed themselves ‘The Hateful Eight’ or the schools who have to deal with the drama of realignment. It doesn’t take a genius to figure out why they ‘hate’ so many other schools and conferences.
To this point, they have gotten their revenge.
Big 12 Bowl Game Dominance
The Big 12 is 6-2 in bowl games this year. Their two losses come from UCF and Oklahoma, both of which are not considered to be in the ‘Hateful Eight’. All six wins come from the group.
- Texas Tech took down California 34-14 in a game where the Red Raiders were only a 3.5 point favorite.
- Kansas beat UNLV by 13 as a 12.5 point favorite. Many saw this as easy money for the Rebels given their record and Mountain West runner-up status.
- West Virginia took down North Carolina 30-10 as a 3.5 Underdog.
- Oklahoma State beat the Texas A&M Aggies 31-23 as a 4.5 point underdog
- Kansas State took down NC State without their starting quarterback 28-19 as a 5.5 point favorite
In other words, all but Iowa State beat their opponent, and they beat the spread. For those of you who aren’t into betting, the spread is a number that essentially says there is a 50% that a team will either win or lose by this margin.
Having five teams beat the spread is a 3.2%. To do it by as much as they did is significantly lower than that. In other words, this group of teams has almost done the impossible, and it is getting noticed.
What’s Next?
Next season, at least for now, all of the conferences will be where they have announced they are going to be. Texas and Oklahoma won’t awkwardly be in the league anymore with everyone knowing they are about to leave, and there won’t be any future teams playing in another conference before they arrive to the Big 12.
With that, there may finally be some consistency back in the sport. The last three years have been chaotic with teams playing in new conferences and announcing departures, but unless Florida State and the ACC do end up finding a way out, we will finally have solidified conferences.
For the ‘Hateful Eight’, they have an opportunity to solidify themselves as the core of the league, or the dominant teams. Granted, the league wants some of the new teams to look good, to help give the conference some credibility, but having three of the top five teams be from this group would look good.
For now, it may be time for the ‘Hateful Eight’ to take its victory and welcome the new members into the league. College football desperately needs strong conferences that have rivalries, yet still support each other. If this league can pull that off, they will stick around for a very long time.
