5 Best Performances in Big 12 Championship History

The Big 12 Championship Game returned in 2017 after a seven-year hiatus, and Lincoln Riley's Oklahoma Sooners have won convincingly over TCU and Texas in back-to-back years. With another matchup against Matt Rhule and Baylor set up in the 2019 iteration, let's take a trip down memory lane and look at the absolute best performances this conference title game has had to offer.

5. Nebraska RB Ahman Green, 1997

The 1995 Cornhuskers were arguably the greatest college football team in history, and one of the few teams that can challenge them in that category was Tom Osborne's 1997 squad, which ended up winning Nebraska's third national title in four years. Scott Frost got plenty of hype, but tailback Ahman Green set the pace for that offense, and his 179-yard, three-touchdown performance in a 54-15 humiliation of Texas A&M cemented the future Green Bay Packers star as Cornhusker royalty.

4. Oklahoma QB Kyler Murray, 2018

This was the game that put the Heisman committee on notice and alerted NFL scouts that Murray's pro prospects were no joke. Murray went 25-of-43 passing for 379 yards and three touchdowns in what turned out to be a 39-27 win for the Sooners that avenged the Red River Rivalry loss to Texas earlier in the season. Murray and Baker Mayfield both authored legendary performances, but Murray gets the nod due to the fact he avenged his only regular season loss as a starter in college.

3. Texas QB Vince Young, 2005

Young's numbers might not be awe-inspiring (14-of-17 passing, 193 yards, three passing touchdowns, 57 rushing yards, one rushing touchdown), but they came within the context of a 70-3 pulverization of Colorado. Buffaloes quarterback Joel Klatt (yes, the very same) was knocked around by a dominant Texas team, and Young did his part by shredding the Colorado defense in what is still the biggest margin of victory in the game's history. This drubbing helped the Longhorns gear up for one of the greatest college football games ever played in that year's Rose Bowl against USC.

2. Kansas State RB Darren Sproles, 2003

Bob Stoops and the Oklahoma Sooners came into their matchup against Darren Sproles and Kansas State ranked No. 1 overall in 2003. They left the Big 12 Championship Game on the wrong end of a shocking 35-7 manhandling. Quarterback Eli Roberson might have thrown for three touchdowns, but Sproles, who topped 1,500 yards from scrimmage in three straight seasons in Manhattan, was really who the Sooners had difficulty stopping. The speedster ran for 235 yards on just 22 carries while adding 88 yards and a touchdown on three catches, as the No. 1 defense in the country could barely hold a candle to the mercurial Sproles.

1. Nebraska DT Ndamukong Suh, 2009

Do you know how good to have to be as a defensive tackle to win player of the game in a contest you LOST? Texas might have nailed a game-winning field goal to take down Nebraska 13-12, but Suh was the best player on the field that night, and it wasn't particularly close. With 12 total tackles, 6 tackles for loss, and 4.5 sacks of Longhorns quarterback Colt McCoy, Suh almost singlehandedly won Nebraska that game. Just because his Cornhuskers were defeated doesn't erase what a special exhibition of football Suh put on.