The Taco Bowl

In the good old days of the Big 8 Conference, Oklahoma and Nebraska normally met yearly at the end of the season for the conference championship, and a trip to the Orange Bowl in Miami. 1980 was no exception. The two teams met in Lincoln, Nebraska, with the winner going to the Orange Bowl. The Sun Bowl in El Paso cut a deal with the two teams to take the loser.

Nebraska athletic director and ex-football coach Bob Devaney taped a weekly television show on Friday nights at a Lincoln TV station. He was taping the show at the same time that OU coach Barry Switzer was doing a live interview at the station for the 10:00 news on Channel 4 in Oklahoma City. Devaney had a pineapple on stage, as a consolation prize for Switzer and his imminent trip to El Paso. Switzer decided to play a trick. He sent someone to a nearby Mexican restaurant to pick up a sack of tacos. While Devaney was taping his show, Switzer walked onto the set, handed him the sack of tacos, and wished him well on his upcoming trip to El Paso.

The Sooners won the next day, earning a Big 8 championship and a trip to Miami. The Huskers got to spend the holidays in the west Texas town of El Paso.

This was great stuff when I watched it on the 10:00 news with my parents 27 years ago, and it's good stuff now. Enjoy...

(special thanks to Jim's Oklahoma Sports Page, and YouTube)