When I truly became a sports fan, WVU was, to me, a football school. Don Nehlen was in charge of the Mountaineers and jump-started the program by beating a powerhouse football school in Oklahoma. Texas back then was looked upon as the Hollywood of college football. Oklahoma State, to me, was Thurman Thomas and Barry Sanders. Football, man. Serious football.
Nowadays, though, those schools' conference, the Big 12, is being burnished more and more as a basketball league.
The on-field football performances have led to that. The recruiting rankings have led to that. And the number of NFL draft picks from the league of late has led to that.
In case you weren't on Twitter over the weekend - as surely every upper-level football recruit was - the Big 12 was absolutely pancaked for having only 14 players taken by NFL teams. (And that was after a seventh-round flurry of four picks.)
The American Athletic Conference (aka the old Big East football league) had 15. Meanwhile, the SEC had 53, the ACC had 43, the Pac-12 had 36 and the Big Ten had 35. You might see the natural cutoff point for "power conferences." And, no, it doesn't help much to figure "per school" numbers because the Big 12 only has 10 members. The SEC had an average of 3.8 draftees per school, while the Big 12 had 1.4. (If you're hungry for crumbs, the average does, however, nudge the Big 12 past the AAC.)
I bring this up because I know the Big 12 meetings are coming up in Phoenix May 5-6. And I suggest an item be added to the agenda.
Pride.
It seriously needs to be addressed.
Those within the league need to take a look at the stark numbers. For the second time in the 3-year-old College Football Playoff, the league was snubbed. As mentioned, the NFL draft numbers were down. (Coaches from other leagues will surely point out to offensive line prospects that only one from the Big 12 was selected - in the seventh round.) And then there are the recruiting rankings.
In the 247 Sports' 2017 recruiting rankings, Oklahoma fared well at No. 8. But then one had to drop to No. 26 (Texas), followed by TCU (31), Oklahoma State (38), Baylor (40), Texas Tech (49), Iowa State (53), WVU (57), Kansas State (60) and Kansas (69).
There are many theories why the situation exists. There's the "basketball on turf" stereotype because of the "Air Raid" offenses and porous defenses - which, let's face it, isn't far off. (I find it fascinating, by the way, when intra-league programs mirror each other in style of play. Why do that?)
Reports, though, have offenses changing some with the hires of Matt Rhule at Baylor and Tom Herman at Texas. WVU's Dana Holgorsen suggested new offensive coordinator Jake Spavital would tinker with the Mountaineer offense. (I imagine we'll see West Virginia throw like crazy if Florida transfer QB Will Grier is in place.)
Another theory is, well, this was just an "off year." The Big 12 averaged 2.6 NFL draftees last year and 2.5 the year prior. But, oops, in 2014 it was also 1.4.
That written, the top of the 2018 NFL draft could be filled with Big 12 players like Malik Jefferson and Connor Williams of Texas, Oklahoma's Jordan Thomas and Orlando Brown and Oklahoma State's Mason Rudolph and James Washington.
Another theory is most of the NFL draftees in 2017 were from high school territories other than that of the Big 12. There were 29 taken from Georgia, 27 from Florida, 26 from California, 24 from Texas, 16 from Ohio and 15 from Louisiana.
But of those 24 drafted from Texas, only seven went to Big 12 schools (Pat Mahomes, D'Onte Foreman, Dede Westbrook, Samaje Perine, Vincent Taylor, Josh Carraway and Kyle Fuller). That's a bad look.
Maybe Baylor's Rhule can give a clinic on recruiting. He, after all, stepped into a horrid situation at the school and managed to land the No. 36 2017 recruiting class. He currently has the No. 17 2018 class, according to 247.
Anyway, I'm seriously suggesting the Big 12 officials and teams take a look at what's happening. Forget where championships will be played five years down the road. Forget meetings on which rules should and shouldn't be changed.
Study what's happening to King Football within. Understand the AAC is comparing itself to you via a strategic plan with a "Power 6" header.
Realize at some point you have to be competitive with the other "Power 5" conferences. Do I think this is killing the league's standing in regard to television contracts? No. Not unless the downward spiral continues for years.
But do I think it's embarrassing for the league? Yes.
This issue is pride. The Big 12's members have a proud history of football excellence. We're talking Barry Switzer, Billy Sims, Adrian Peterson and OU's Sooner Schooner, man. This is UT's Earl Campbell, Ricky Williams and that Vince Young fourth-and-5 run against USC. It's TCU and Davey O'Brien. It's WVU and Sam Huff, Major Harris and Pat White. We. Are. Talking. R. G. III.
Somehow the Big 12 officials and schools need to reverse course and head back toward those days.
For the sake of tradition. For the sake of future earnings.
And for the sake of pride.
Contact Mitch Vingle at 304-348-4827 or mitchvingle@wvgazettemail.com. Follow him on Twitter @MitchVingle.