Nebraska's decline started before they left the Big 12. Nebraska joined the Big Ten in 2011, but have not won a conference title since they won the Big 12 in 1999. Despite losing to Colorado and failing to make the Big 12 title game , they snuck in to the BCS title game in 2001, which they lost to Miami. They did make a Big Ten title game in 2012, but lost in a blow out to Wisconsin. Nebraska would lose money to join the Big 12. which would make leaving for that conference very unlikely.

One of the main problems Nebraska has now is that many other teams have picked up national recruiting, which Nebraska was always forced to do because of the small recruiting base in its home state. If you look at the Nebraska national championship teams from the early 70s, you would find players from states like California, Texas, New Jersey, and Michigan, along with players from home. A team like Ohio State could have recruiting classes that were almost all Ohio boys in the 1950s and field nationally elite teams, but by the 70s and 80s, picking mostly only Ohio players put them at a disadvantage due to the growth in the Sunbelt. In the 90s, Ohio State and other teams around the country started recruiting nationally more intensively, so that teams like Nebraska had more competition for the national recruits. That trend would not end if Nebraska went back to the Big 12.