Morgantown, West Virginia – During the annual Big 12 Conference media days each summer, Big 12 Coordinator of Officials Greg Burks is inevitably asked about the “horns down” gesture and whether it will be a penalty. In the past, he has said that the conference would be cracking down on it and penalizing the gesture by opposing teams.
This past summer, Burks had the following to say about it: “It’s when you do it, who you do it to, and the manner of how you do it.”
When asked to clarify, Burks attempted to be as specific as he possibly could be.
”Let me put it this way,” Burks said. “If you do a Horns Down to a Texas player as an opponent, that’s probably going to be a foul.”
That was before Texas and Oklahoma decided to leave the Big 12 Conference and go to the SEC. Although the move is now inevitable, both teams are still active members in the Big 12.
In the past, the Big 12 was forced to fawn over and bootlick both Texas and Oklahoma. However, with that said, the Big 12 no longer has to go out of its way to protect the reputation of its most profitable school, the University of Texas.
In fact, the Big 12 Conference has every reason to make the final year(s) of Texas in the conference as awkward and uncomfortable as possible for the Longhorns.
Conference officials should not only reverse their previous decision to make “horns down” a penalty but actually actively encourage it for opposing teams and fans.
Why not? Who exactly is the Big 12 Conference protecting at this point?
Neither Texas or Oklahoma have done anything to make this inevitable transition easy or painless for the conference or any of the teams involved, so why should the conference or the teams directly affected do anything to make anything uncomplicated for the Longhorns or Sooners?
The selfish decision by both teams has hurt every other team in the conference and opposing fans and players should be able to take out their frustrations and anger on them.
While Texas and Oklahoma are still around and before they jet off to the SEC, Big 12 teams and fans should be allowed and encouraged to show them just how much their actions are appreciated!
