Spring practice is in full swing across the Big 12 country, and pretty soon, some schools will be hosting their annual spring game. Well, some schools will be, while others conform to the new trend of canceling these games. In today’s college football world, spring football just isn’t the same as it once was.
As a lifelong college football fan, nothing is worse than the offseason. All we’ve had to look forward to is spring football practice and, of course, the spring game to see which players break out and who aren’t quite ready to make an impact.
While that may seem like a lifetime ago, it wasn’t. Just a few years ago, that was considered normal, but what was normal then is now irrelevant. If you don’t believe me, just look at where the sport is today.
Everything is about money. Fans are a complete afterthought, and the only thing the people in suits care about is how much cash they can stuff into their pockets while also shelling out enough to buy a championship-caliber football team.
Conferences are no longer regional, and rivalries are going by the wayside. If you were to look at a map of the ACC, Big Ten, or my beloved Big 12 Conference, you would have thought some drunken idiot threw darts all over it.
As much as it pains me to be the old man who screams “Get off my lawn,” it doesn’t change how I feel. This sport is changing faster than I can even realize what is going on half the time. I miss how things were back then because it wasn’t just simpler but also nostalgic.
While I may not like the changes that have been made for spring football, I totally understand why it’s not nearly as big as it was years ago. The stuff on the field doesn’t matter as much anymore during spring as it does off the field. Why? Because of the never-ending transfer portal.
It’s not uncommon for teams to lose a quarter of their roster after spring practice. Players you thought you may be able to count on for the upcoming season could just as easily suit up for another school in a few months.
But what if there was a way to get the best of both worlds? Not only to keep spring games but also to make them more interesting? Out of all people, Oklahoma State head coach Mike Gundy may have devised an intriguing solution.
Earlier this week, Gundy met with local media and suggested that the Cowboys could go to Norman on April 12th, the same day that Oklahoma has scheduled its “Crimson Combine” to replace the Sooners’ traditional spring game. Oklahoma could make the trip to Stillwater in place of Oklahoma State’s Spring game the following weekend.
This is something that would get a lot of attention, not just locally but nationally. With Oklahoma’s move to the SEC, Bedlam, as we know, is basically over until further notice, so this would be a great way to get a taste of one of the best rivalries in all of college football.
But why stop with Oklahoma State? Our own Bryan Clinton wrote a column where he gave every Big 12 team a fun spring opponent. I would absolutely be in favor of this. Spring football could use a facelift, and this is a perfect way of doing it.
Mike Gundy has been called a lot of things over his extensive career. Oftentimes, we can be a bit too harsh on him for his bold takes. But sometimes we don’t give him enough credit when he comes up with a million-dollar idea. Well, Mike, today you get your flowers. Cheers!
