Not meeting annually makes it more difficult for the Big Reds of the plains, Nebraska and Oklahoma, to measure themselves against each other.</p><p>Which probably isn&rsquo;t a bad thing for the Cornhuskers, who play host to the Sooners on Saturday. The series looks better in retrospect.</p><p>In the day, games didn&rsquo;t come bigger. You planned around this event. Even now, the college football national TV menu on the Thanksgiving weekend remains a Big 12 domain because of season-ending tradition started by these traditional powers. Big Eight championship, the Orange Bowl and a voice in the national championship often was on the line.</p><p>But the rivalry in its current form carries a touch of sadness because of the recent imbalance. Over the last decade, the Sooners annually have battled within a small, elite circle of national championship contenders, and the Cornhuskers desperately seek to regain entrance to the club.</p><p>When the Big 12 started, conditions were reversed as kingpin Nebraska dominated tail-spinning Oklahoma. But the Sooners found Bob Stoops, who won a crown in his second season, and the most wishful thinking of the Cornhuskers had that timetable in mind when athletic director Tom Osborne persuaded Bo Pelini to Lincoln.</p><p>Suffice to say, Nebraska won&rsquo;t win a national title in Pelini&rsquo;s second season. The program is battling to improve over Pelini&rsquo;s nice rookie year and win a mediocre North Division, and that speaks more to the conditions of Oklahoma then and Nebraska now than to the capacities of the coaches because, frankly, Stoops and Pelini cannot be more alike.</p><p>They grew up in Youngstown, Ohio, seven years apart, attended the same high school, played in the secondary at Big Ten schools, started their coaching careers as graduate assistants at Iowa, coordinated defenses at national champion SEC programs before getting their first head coaching jobs at Big 12 historical powers.</p><p>Stoops&rsquo; brother Mike was his first defensive coordinator. Pelini&rsquo;s brother Carl is his defensive coordinator. Carl Pelini lived with Bob Stoops when he served as a graduate assistant at Kansas State.</p><p>&ldquo;He lived with me for quite a while, my wife would say longer than he should have,&rdquo; Stoops joked.</p><p>Stoops took over a program that finished with a losing record the previous year and immediately led the Sooners to a bowl game. Pelini did the same thing with the Cornhuskers &mdash; even finished with a better first-year record than Stoops.</p><p>That gave hope to an accelerated Nebraska renaissance. So, why isn&rsquo;t second-season Pelini as successful as second-season Stoops?</p><p>For starters, few in the game&rsquo;s history started faster than Stoops. Larry Coker at Miami won the national title in his first year, and Barry Switzer won one in his second year. Those three are the only coaches in the last 60 years to win a national championship in their first two seasons.</p><p>In Stoops&rsquo; and Pelini&rsquo;s second years, defense dominated as might be expected from their backgrounds. But the offensive side provides a sharp contrast. Stoops hired Mike Leach as his first offense coordinator because while at Florida he was amazed by the effectiveness of the spread that Leach taught at Kentucky.</p><p>Along with Leach came an unknown quarterback from junior college, Josh Heupel, who perfectly fit the system. Leach had moved to Texas Tech by 2000, and the Sooners attack was now in the hands of another offense-minded coach, Mark Mangino.</p><p>It all came together wonderfully for Oklahoma in a way it&rsquo;s not at Nebraska. Heupel was the Heisman runner-up in Stoops&rsquo; second season. The Cornhuskers are less than two weeks into a quarterback switch to freshman Cody Green, and the offense has been largely stale against the better competition all season.</p><p>More talent already in the system and geographical recruiting advantages also gave that Sooners team an edge.</p><p>As for Saturday, it&rsquo;s not a mission impossible game for the Cornhuskers. Both teams are 5-3 and play ferocious defense. But Nebraska&rsquo;s last two home outings were ghastly losses to Iowa State and Texas Tech, and the Sooners are a few bounces away from the contending team they were expected to be.</p><p>Stoops is convinced Pelini will succeed in Lincoln and joked that he&rsquo;d rather not see Nebraska return to national prominence.</p><p>Or maybe he wasn&rsquo;t kidding, and that would be an even greater compliment to Nebraska.