OUSuperman
11/12/2008, 12:58 PM
Article from Ivan Maisel:
http://sports.espn.go.com/ncf/notebook?page=iform0812
The 1993 Florida State Seminoles are alive and well in Norman, Okla.
Bobby Bowden's first national champion finished No. 1 despite suffering a loss to the team that finished No. 2. Dr. Lou, the coach of that Notre Dame team, slams his stethoscope to the ground and stalks out of the room every time he hears it.
Bob Stoops
Peter G. Aiken/Getty Images
A tough closing stretch could point Bob Stoops and the Sooners toward Miami.
Fifteen years later, Oklahoma is hoping for the same result as the Seminoles. No. 5 Oklahoma, idle this week, has games remaining against No. 2 Texas Tech and No. 13 Oklahoma State. If the Sooners win, they somehow would have to leap over No. 3 Texas, the team that beat them 45-35 on Oct. 11.
If Texas Tech, Texas and Oklahoma finish in a three-way tie for the Big 12 South championship, then the BCS standings will determine which team will play in the league championship game.
Oklahoma coach Bob Stoops has done his share of politicking -- you may recall his unsuccessful campaign to get to the BCS National Championship Game with two losses last season -- but he's not ready to start his public campaign now.
"We've got to beat Tech and Oklahoma State," Stoops said. "If we can win, then there's something to say, and quite a lot."
The Sooners, stuck at No. 5, haven't gotten a lot of national attention since their loss to the Longhorns. They have won four consecutive shootouts, scoring more points in each successive week:
Oklahoma 45, Kansas 31
Oklahoma 58, Kansas State 35
Oklahoma 62, Nebraska 28
Oklahoma 66, Texas A&M 28
Those are bigger routs than they appear to be. In the past three fourth quarters, the Sooners have thrown a total of six passes and scored a total of three points. All of which is to say that if Oklahoma beats Texas Tech -- and the game is in Norman -- then Texas is not a slam dunk to finish ahead of the Sooners.
Oklahoma will have an edge in strength of schedule. The Sooners defeated No. 18 TCU and No. 22 Cincinnati, which could both finish as conference champions, and, in the Bearcats' case, in a BCS bowl. The only one of Texas' nonconference opponents with a winning record is Rice.
And Oklahoma will have beaten two highly ranked teams in the final weeks of the season. Richard Billingsley, who runs one of the six computer rankings used by the BCS, said via e-mail, "Overall in my system, beating a top-three team in mid-November is worth more than beating a top-three team in early October. Point values are greater because teams have accomplished more."
In the case of a three-way tie in which all three teams have beaten each other, Billingsley said the Sooners have an advantage there, too. "OU beating Texas Tech would be worth more than Texas beating OU."
Billingsley said he doesn't know if Oklahoma would move past Texas, because the Longhorns play at Kansas this week.
Billingsley is one voice, and the voters in the Harris poll and the USA Today coaches' poll all have their own voice, too. In case you're wondering, Mike Leach of Texas Tech and Mack Brown of Texas have a vote in the coaches' poll. Stoops does not.
"No question, there's an argument for and against everyone," Stoops said. "If you lost a game, you have to admit there's an argument. That's what I'm tired of. Then it gets down to who wants to trumpet who. You're subject to all of that. … You feel like you'd rather be one of a group to have a shot at it."
That's the one argument that Stoops is ready to make: He's about ready for a playoff.
Good to get confirmation from the computers that the late wins would carry more weight than UT's win over us, since they're late in the season. Kinda figures that the year Bob and Mike decide not to vote in the coaches poll, we would need all the help we can get from the voters. That's probably two more first place votes we could have received in the event we win out.
http://sports.espn.go.com/ncf/notebook?page=iform0812
The 1993 Florida State Seminoles are alive and well in Norman, Okla.
Bobby Bowden's first national champion finished No. 1 despite suffering a loss to the team that finished No. 2. Dr. Lou, the coach of that Notre Dame team, slams his stethoscope to the ground and stalks out of the room every time he hears it.
Bob Stoops
Peter G. Aiken/Getty Images
A tough closing stretch could point Bob Stoops and the Sooners toward Miami.
Fifteen years later, Oklahoma is hoping for the same result as the Seminoles. No. 5 Oklahoma, idle this week, has games remaining against No. 2 Texas Tech and No. 13 Oklahoma State. If the Sooners win, they somehow would have to leap over No. 3 Texas, the team that beat them 45-35 on Oct. 11.
If Texas Tech, Texas and Oklahoma finish in a three-way tie for the Big 12 South championship, then the BCS standings will determine which team will play in the league championship game.
Oklahoma coach Bob Stoops has done his share of politicking -- you may recall his unsuccessful campaign to get to the BCS National Championship Game with two losses last season -- but he's not ready to start his public campaign now.
"We've got to beat Tech and Oklahoma State," Stoops said. "If we can win, then there's something to say, and quite a lot."
The Sooners, stuck at No. 5, haven't gotten a lot of national attention since their loss to the Longhorns. They have won four consecutive shootouts, scoring more points in each successive week:
Oklahoma 45, Kansas 31
Oklahoma 58, Kansas State 35
Oklahoma 62, Nebraska 28
Oklahoma 66, Texas A&M 28
Those are bigger routs than they appear to be. In the past three fourth quarters, the Sooners have thrown a total of six passes and scored a total of three points. All of which is to say that if Oklahoma beats Texas Tech -- and the game is in Norman -- then Texas is not a slam dunk to finish ahead of the Sooners.
Oklahoma will have an edge in strength of schedule. The Sooners defeated No. 18 TCU and No. 22 Cincinnati, which could both finish as conference champions, and, in the Bearcats' case, in a BCS bowl. The only one of Texas' nonconference opponents with a winning record is Rice.
And Oklahoma will have beaten two highly ranked teams in the final weeks of the season. Richard Billingsley, who runs one of the six computer rankings used by the BCS, said via e-mail, "Overall in my system, beating a top-three team in mid-November is worth more than beating a top-three team in early October. Point values are greater because teams have accomplished more."
In the case of a three-way tie in which all three teams have beaten each other, Billingsley said the Sooners have an advantage there, too. "OU beating Texas Tech would be worth more than Texas beating OU."
Billingsley said he doesn't know if Oklahoma would move past Texas, because the Longhorns play at Kansas this week.
Billingsley is one voice, and the voters in the Harris poll and the USA Today coaches' poll all have their own voice, too. In case you're wondering, Mike Leach of Texas Tech and Mack Brown of Texas have a vote in the coaches' poll. Stoops does not.
"No question, there's an argument for and against everyone," Stoops said. "If you lost a game, you have to admit there's an argument. That's what I'm tired of. Then it gets down to who wants to trumpet who. You're subject to all of that. … You feel like you'd rather be one of a group to have a shot at it."
That's the one argument that Stoops is ready to make: He's about ready for a playoff.
Good to get confirmation from the computers that the late wins would carry more weight than UT's win over us, since they're late in the season. Kinda figures that the year Bob and Mike decide not to vote in the coaches poll, we would need all the help we can get from the voters. That's probably two more first place votes we could have received in the event we win out.