Man. Talk about delusions of grandeur!
Missouri means nothing in the grand scheme of things. Missouri is a footnote in the history of college football. If Missouri wins this game, ten years from now nobody will remember it was ever played. The only possible way this game could have that kind of meaning is if Missouri were a legit National Championship contender, and won the title. Even then your victory over Oklahoma last week will make this game seem like a blip on the radar. Whomever you beat in the CCG to get to the MNC game, that will be remembered.
Nebraska's motives for leaving the Big XII have nothing to do with Missouri, not now, not ten years from now, not ever. Nebraska is wrapped up in this with one school, and one school only, in the eyes of the national media, and subsequently in the eyes of sports fans across the country. Can you guess who that team is? Here's a hint - they wear burnt orange and they've already beaten us this year.
Whether Nebraska wins this game, the conference title and a BCS game won't matter a hill of beans. The story of why we left the Big 12 is, was, and always will be this: We got pissed at Texas, and we left in a huff. It's entirely untrue, but that's the story. That will also be the story if we lose to Missouri, if we don't go to the Conference Championship Game, or a quality bowl. It's about Texas and Nebraska, period.
KNOW YOUR PLACE! This is the sad reality of Missouri football - even if you beat us, even if you win the conference, even if you go on to a swell BCS game and win that, even if ALL of that happens, nationally you'll still be a side story. Sure, you'll get some pub for a while - Cincy did last year, too - but after bowl season and we move on, your role in this will be ignored. Why? Because you're not a national powerhouse. You're not one of the Pillars of College Football. You're a bit-player, not a marquee headliner.
This is not smack talk. This is simple reality. You have no championships. You have no trophy winners. You have no tradition, no history, nothing about you that separates you from the pack. Tora! Tora! Tora! said it himself without knowing it, "Nobody cares about CU in Missouri." Of course you don't. Colorado sucks. But Colorado has done something Missouri never has - won a National Championship. They've had a Heisman Trophy winner. They've won conference championships. They've done all these things, and yet you still don't care about them.
Imagine how the landscape of college football thinks of Missouri when you frame it that way. Think really hard, and think objectively.
If you can truly do that, you'll realize how silly the opening post of this thread is. It's a farce. Nobody will care ten years from now what Missouri did in 2010. Nobody will care if you beat us this year. We're no juggernaut team of destiny blazing a trail to the BCS National Championship game. We're a semi-decent team with some major flaws. We don't have enough cache for anyone to truly care if you beat us. Unranked Texas beat us, and that'll resonate more, and longer, than a Missouri win tomorrow.
Conference realignment has never been about you. It's never going to be about you, either. Missouri will never be mentioned as a major player in the events that have shaped this time; or if they are mentioned, it'll be as a bleak reminder of the forlorn, sad girl who got all dressed up to go to the prom, but spent the night at home, stood up once again.