Ten summers ago, Nebraska and Colorado left the Big 12. A year later, Missouri and Texas A&M fled, too.
The conference was in tatters. In its early days, the Big 12 was on the same prestige plane as the Southeastern Conference. But a decade ago, the Big 12’s future was in jeopardy and its status had cratered.
Fast forward to last week, when Big 12 presidents met with the fate of college football in its hands. The Big Ten and Pac-12 had scrapped the autumn season. The SEC and ACC had declared their intentions to keep forging on.