After an unpredictable final year for the Big 12 as we know it, the dust has settled and we’re left with a classic matchup of conference powerhouses to end an era.

With OU’s thrilling 47-41 win over Oklahoma State on Saturday in Stillwater, the Sooners clinched a berth in the Big 12’s last title game to play historic North program Nebraska this Saturday in Arlington, Texas.

After a summer when the Big 12 was nearly blown up by realignment, the conference — especially the South — was turned on its head for much of the season.

Baylor led the division for a period and finished the season bowl eligible. Texas finished last in the division.

The Sooners earned the right to play in the conference title game by winning the BCS tie-breaker over OSU and Texas A&M by rolling in at No. 9 in Sunday’s rankings.

But, after a close call, at least the conference championship game will appear normal, even if the rankings do not.

OU’s season has been one of shifting expectations. Voted by the media as the favorite to win the Big 12 South, the Sooners came out strong during the first half of the season, starting 6-0 and rising to the top spot in the first BCS ranking of the season. A potential national championship didn’t seem out of reach for the team at that point.

But when Missouri upset the No. 1 Sooners on national television, some began to wonder whether this OU team had really gotten over its road problems. A loss two weeks later to Texas A&M at Kyle Field reinforced the doubt, and two-loss OU seemed to be falling apart.

The Sooners continued to play well at home against lesser opponents Colorado and Texas Tech, but it was clear the season was riding on OU’s last two games: a trip to Baylor and Bedlam in Stillwater.

Baylor was having its best season in 15 years, and was led by the dynamic sophomore quarterback Robert Griffin III. Despite the hype, OU had no trouble in a 53-24 win, the first true road victory of the season.

So it all came down to Bedlam. The Sooners were the underdogs, both in the rankings and in the eyes of national analysts. Yet even though they were on the road to face the Cowboys in one of the biggest games in OSU’s program history, they came out on top.

There is no time for an OU letdown after an emotional rivalry-game win. It is one week of practice before facing the BCS No. 13 team in the country, a team that was literally inches away from winning last year’s conference title against Texas.

Saturday, there will be more than a conference championship on the line. There is a history between OU and Nebraska that pre-dates the Big 12 Conference itself.

OU and Nebraska first played in 1912, and the rivalry between the two teams has spanned a number of conference shifts and realignments.

However, with Nebraska’s departure to the Big Ten next season, it is unknown when the two teams will meet again. There has been discussion of a potential series in 2020 and 2021, but even that isn’t a certainty at this point.

So on Saturday, OU and Nebraska will meet in what could be a storybook conclusion to this era of the Big 12 Conference. They will say farewell to each other until they meet again sometime in the distant future.

And, with 90-plus years of history and a summer of unrest and posturing between them, the two teams will go at each other with everything they have, one last time.

Senior linebacker Travis Lewis summed it up in one simple sentence following the victory against Oklahoma State.

“Who better to play in the Big 12 Championship than Nebraska, right?” Lewis said with a grin.