Top 5 rivalries that were ruined by college football realignment

1. Oklahoma-Nebraska

Some will surely disagree with Oklahoma and Nebraska being ranked at the top of this list but it was one of the greatest college football rivalries of all time in its heyday.

Like Texas and Arkansas on this list, this rivalry was born more out of the two teams being in the same conference as the long-time Big 8 powers routinely battled it out for supremacy winning a combined 75 conference titles (outright and shared) in the 88-year history of the Big 8. Oklahoma and Nebraska also won 10 of the conference’s 11 national championships.

Much like Ohio State and Michigan, it became a national rivalry and it was always played the day after Thanksgiving on national TV which made it even more prominent. Barry Switzer and Tom Osborne had some legendary battles and the two programs even met in the Orange Bowl one year after the Huskers beat the Sooners in Lincoln.

The series is most famous for the 1971 “Game of the Century” when the Sooners and Huskers were No. 1 and No. 2. Johnny Rodgers returned a punt for a touchdown as the Huskers won 35-31. They later won their second straight national championship.

The rivalry underwent a couple of dramatic changes with the first coming at the Big 12’s inception. Oklahoma and Nebraska played every year in the Big 8 but the Big 12 had two divisions — the North and South, which led to a split between the Huskers and Sooners.

Oklahoma kept Texas as its top rival, along with Oklahoma State. Nebraska which had a strong rivalry going with Colorado took on the Buffaloes as their new rival. Colorado-Nebraska even took the TV slot on the day after Thanksgiving.

Yet, even in the Big 12, there were some historic matchups. In 2000, when Bob Stoops led the Sooners to an unexpected national championship, OU won a No. 1 vs No. 2 matchup against Nebraska in Norman. The Huskers came in as the No. 1 team and lost 31-14.

The next year in Lincoln, there was another No. 1 vs No. 2 matchup (BCS rankings), and this time, Nebraska beat the defending national champs thanks to an Eric Crouch catch-and-run touchdown on a trick play. That play won Crouch the Heisman and that win helped Nebraska reach the national title game.

Nebraska and Oklahoma also played in the Big 12 championship game twice, with the Sooners winning both games before the Huskers left for the Big Ten in 2011.

The two rivals met in Norman last season as part of a two-game series that will continue this fall in Lincoln as a celebration of the 1971 game. It was great to see them back on the field and it will be great for college football to have the Sooners back in Lincoln for the first time in over a decade.

It’s just a shame that a rivalry that was once one of college football’s most prestigous, is now little more than an afterthought.