Our story begins with a recollection of the night before Lincoln Riley was hired by USC.
The Oklahoma Sooners visited the Oklahoma State Cowboys. The winner would go to the Big 12 Championship game.
I watched that game live, not knowing that Lincoln Riley would be the head coach of USC 24 hours later (to be precise, fewer than 20 hours later).
In the second half, Oklahoma wasn’t necessarily wronged, but every 50-50 call went against the Sooners.
The reality that Oklahoma was heading for the SEC and leaving the Big 12 crossed my mind. Oklahoma fans and bloggers were thinking the same thing.
Fast-forward to another game at Oklahoma State involving the other Big 12 team about to leave for the SEC.
Columnist J. Brady McCollough of the Los Angeles Times explored the idea that the Big 12 is punishing the schools leaving for the SEC, and that the Pac-12 is punishing USC for leaving for the Big Ten.
Let’s dive into McCollough’s piece and add some other insights: