The Oklahoman's Berry Tramel gave his 10 causes for the Big 12's recent fall. His reasons, in order of importance: talent dip, SEC uprising, realignment, OU/Texas slumps, QB issues, parity, scheduling, title game losses, playoff timing and bowl futility.

Tramel had realignment ranked third, behind the talent dip and SEC uprising. But I would counter that it was realignment that fueled the talent dip and SEC uprising. First of all, it would be impossible for any conference to lose three quality members in Nebraska, Texas A&M and Missouri and not feel it. But their leaving also contributed to how outsiders, including recruits, viewed the Big 12.

Tramel used the word "diminished" to describe it, and that's fair. After realignment, playing in the Big 12 wasn't quite as attractive as it once was. But on top of that, A&M going to the SEC not only elevated A&M's recruiting pitch, it allowed the likes of Alabama and LSU to make inroads into Texas. Players who would have previously signed with the Sooners or Longhorns were suddenly headed to play for the Crimson Tide and Tigers. That has contributed to Tramel's No. 4 reason for the Big 12's fall: OU and Texas slumping. The Longhorns and Sooners once dominated recruiting in the state of Texas. At the moment, that is not the case.

There are number of factors that have contributed to the Big 12 being diminished.

But almost all of them tie back to the day the league started losing members to other conferences.