Top 5 teams OU teams all-time not named national champions

[SteelClip49]

here's what I say.....


1. 1972
2. 2008
3. 1971
4. 1978
5. 1986

Honorable Mention: 1949, 1954, 1973, 1987, 2003

Thoughts?

[CatfishSooner]

1. 2008
2. 1972
3. 2004
4. 1986
5. 1978

[texaspokieokie]

1949; some said they were better than the 1950 champs.

1971 was much better than 1972 on offense, they had Mildren. They set records. Of course 72 had little joe. On offense, i'll take Mildren with Pruitt & his 9.36 ypc.
On defense, there were rookies, Younger Selmons (Lee Roy was only 17) & Shoate. Defense was better.

Overall, i'll take 1971 over 72.

[ashley]

08 easy

[BoulderSooner79]

If I throw in best relative to their competition, I'd put '78 and '03 at the top. Those teams were the best in the country in those years which made falling short so painful.
The '08 squad was elite, but that might have been the best year ever at the top. OU, UT, USC, tOSU, UF, Bama were elite that year.

[PLaw]

'49
'71
'73
'78
'08

'49 - undefeated
'71 - Jack overthrows Harrison
'73. - best team nobody ever saw
'79 - #20 puts the ball on the carpet
'08 - seriously, can't score a TD on two possessions inside the 5??

[texaspokieokie]

73 team was on tv, 74 & 75 were not.

[JLEW1818]

2003 was Stoops best team.

2008 we had no defense.

[bixby28]

2003 was Stoops best team.

2008 we had no defense.

2003 was a great team, no doubt about it.

Here's my 5 : 2003, 1972, 2008, 2004, 1986

[LVSOONER15]

2003

[BBQ Man]

2012...oh wait, we WILL be national champs!!!

[Salt City Sooner]

2003 was Stoops best team.

2008 we had no defense.
On it's own merits, the '08 D was better than it generally gets credit for. The thing that hurt them a lot was that the special teams (namely KO returns) kept the D under the gun the entire year.

[Sabanball]

1978--Billy Sims doesn't fumble the game away @Nebraska you guys cruise to the NC
1971--only loss was game of the century 'nough said
1986--Took 25 yrs for a comparable defense to come along, Bama's of 2011
1987--Again, only Miami was better and kept you guys from winning 3 straight NC's
2003--Your most balanced team since you last won the NC

[marfacowboy]

Great thread....I'll say '73 and put one up there for my "time." Should have beaten SC (the tie). No losses and a great team.

[RUSH LIMBAUGH is my clone!]

'71 best offense in history, and 5 "miscues" by the refs, and the game was IN NORMAN against nebbish
'78 one play away from uncontested championship
'54 I don't know why we didn't get the title. undefeated
'73 we wuz killer, and musta got robbed
'03 maimed qb and mysterious play-calling in the NC game lost it for us. Even Kejuan Jones could run the ball against the tigahbaits on that last drive.

[texaspokieokie]

If freshman could've played in 71, defense would've been better. Rod Shoate & Randy Hughes would've made OU National Champs !!!
JMHO

[BoulderSooner79]

1978--Billy Sims doesn't fumble the game away @Nebraska you guys cruise to the NC
1971--only loss was game of the century 'nough said
1986--Took 25 yrs for a comparable defense to come along, Bama's of 2011
1987--Again, only Miami was better and kept you guys from winning 3 straight NC's
2003--Your most balanced team since you last won the NC

Miami was better in '87 against our back-up QB. Would have been epic with Holieway at QB.

[NMSooner'80]

Additional comment on a couple of the teams mentioned by most:
- 1978, only team in the country that season to beat every team on its schedule. The rematch vs. Nebraska sure was fun. And to add to the hilarity, virtually no one in Nebraska wanted to see us again, and everyone found out why in the Orange Bowl. The only downer in that game was that Corn scored on the last play of the game to make it 31-24. It'd been 31-10 not too long before.
- 1986, incredible defense. They didn't give up a TD on defense at home all season. The only TD by a visiting team was when K-State blocked a punt and scored, but still lost 56-10. And Ag State, with "I'm a Man, I was 18" at QB, only crossed OU's 30 once, and missed a field goal, in a 19-0 loss in Norman. Their fans acted like they'd won because they "played OU close."

[NMSooner'80]

The 1978 also got burned without even playing that Saturday after Thanksgiving. The USC-Notre Dame game was about to go ND's way until a typical west coast cheating Zebra ruled that lefty QB Paul McDonald's fumble was an incomplete pass. That was about as much of a pass as a typical wishbone pitch. USC rallied to win that game at the Coliseum and got an undeserved share of the title that year.

[thecrimsoncrusader]

The 2008 defense was fine until Reynolds injury (see Texas go from negative yards rushing in the first half to finishing the game with 160 rushing yards in the 2nd half) and it was just as bad after that until very late in the season when the late Austin Box started catching on. And then lost him for the bowl game to injury and the big and talented, but woefully inexperienced Mike Balogun had to come in for the BCS title game. Special teams was certainly atrocious though to say the least.

[JLEW1818]

Yah the kickoff returns were a joke in 2008.

5 I think?

Cincy
Texas
K state
Tamu
Poke Stare

[Salt City Sooner]

"Only" 4 for TD's, but there were a truckload of others that set up the opposing teams O entirely too well. See my post in this link (post #9 ) for game by game of the D & special teams of 2008 :

http://www.soonerfans.com/forums/showthread.php?130942-Coaching-Grade-(A)-in-2008&highlight=

[sooneredaco]

2012

[Since71ASooner4Life]

1978--Billy Sims doesn't fumble the game away @Nebraska you guys cruise to the NC
1971--only loss was game of the century 'nough said
1986--Took 25 yrs for a comparable defense to come along, Bama's of 2011
1987--Again, only Miami was better and kept you guys from winning 3 straight NC's
2003--Your most balanced team since you last won the NC


Sabanball you are always one of the most on point posters here on this message board, but I'd argue that the USC defense Clay Matthew's senior year is missing from your point #3. Dont know the statistics, but cant recall a better college defense ever taking the field, including some of the old Miami teams loaded with NFL draft picks

[Since71ASooner4Life]

If I throw in best relative to their competition, I'd put '78 and '03 at the top. Those teams were the best in the country in those years which made falling short so painful.
The '08 squad was elite, but that might have been the best year ever at the top. OU, UT, USC, tOSU, UF, Bama were elite that year.

78 was loaded with guys who played in the NFL - 3 or 4 pro bowl level if I recall correctly

[Since71ASooner4Life]

2003 created a lot of hype and expectations, but Darren Sproles & Co unveiled some huge shortcomings in the defense. And the body language during that punk down was really disheartening.

[RUSH LIMBAUGH is my clone!]

Sabanball you are always one of the most on point posters here on this message board, but I'd argue that the USC defense Clay Matthew's senior year is missing from your point #3. Dont know the statistics, but cant recall a better college defense ever taking the field, including some of the old Miami teams loaded with NFL draft picksWhat happened in '71 that made you an OU fan for life?

[MyT Oklahoma]

I don't know about Since71ASooner4Life but for me it was October 23, 1971, OU 75 Kansas State 28.

And the NCAA record 472.4 yards per game rushing average.

And the Game of the Century on Thanksgiving Day at Aunt Loretta's house.

[RUSH LIMBAUGH is my clone!]

I don't know about Since71ASooner4Life but for me it was October 23, 1971, OU 75 Kansas State 28.

And the NCAA record 472.4 yards per game rushing average.

And the Game of the Century on Thanksgiving Day at Aunt Loretta's house.Did the officiating in the OU-Nebbish game upset you as much as it must have upset Since71A Sooner4Life?

[Since71ASooner4Life]

What happened in '71 that made you an OU fan for life?

The Game of the century was the first football game I ever watched (on TV) in my life, being in 4th grade at the time. And being the twisted sort that I am, naturally I had to root for the bad guys - who that day I declared must be the Oklahoma Sooners because they were the #2 ranked team. When they lost, pride made me that much more committed to their cause, and for the last 40 years it has stuck. I guess sometimes you just get lucky and pick right from the start. Living in Ohio/KY/Michigan all my life it has been fun to be the rebel who wears the OU gear and tells my friends how irrelevant the MSU-Michigan and Michican-tOSU games are :>)

[Jacie]

The Game of the century was the first football game I ever watched (on TV) in my life . . .

Surely, 99.99% of all the games you have watched since must have seemed a HUGE letdown.

[Since71ASooner4Life]

Surely, 99.99% of all the games you have watched since must have seemed a HUGE letdown.

Truthfully speaking, I was too young and didn't understand that game well enough to realize the magnitude (and rarity of an epic battle living up to expectations) of what I had witnessed. Good thing was it taught me at an early age to hate Nebraska, until I learned that it's a lot more satisfying hating Texas :>)

[MyT Oklahoma]

Did the officiating in the OU-Nebbish game upset you as much as it must have upset Since71A Sooner4Life?

Yes but every time I check the game film nothing ever changes. LOL

[MyT Oklahoma]

Now as to the Top Five OU Teams that were never National Champions.

1978
1987
2008
1971
1986

And also....

2003
1973
1977
1972
1954

[soonervegas]

1978 and 2003 were the head scratchers....

[MyT Oklahoma]

In 1978 we were simply outplayed by a determined team who refused to lose for the seventh straight time to us.

That was my worse Sooner loss of all time but I do give them credit. That was one of the hardest hitting games I ever saw.

In 2003 I watched most of that Big 12 Championship Game as a bar in KC. I have no idea what happened that night.

[IndySooner]

I think the '04 team was better than the '03 team. Not sure why the '03 team is getting the nod over them here.

[Pricetag]

The only thing the 2004 squad had on 2003 was Adrian Peterson, IMO.

[RUSH LIMBAUGH is my clone!]

The only thing the 2004 squad had on 2003 was Adrian Peterson, IMO.haha.

[BoulderSooner79]

I think the '04 team was better than the '03 team. Not sure why the '03 team is getting the nod over them here.

Couldn't disagree more. The '03 team had a defense that was probably second to only LSU's that year. The '04 defense dropped off a bunch and it was showing it's problems well before the beating from 'SC. Obviously, AD made the '04 offense more balanced, but it didn't turn out to be more effective as his extra rushing yards seemed to come out of JWs reduced passing yards.

[Pricetag]

Yep. We lost Tommie Harris, Teddy Lehman, Derrick Strait, Brandon Everage, Kory Klein, Lance Mitchell, Pasha Jackson, and Dusty Dvoracek from that 2003 defense.

[BoulderSooner79]

Yep. We lost Tommie Harris, Teddy Lehman, Derrick Strait, Brandon Everage, Kory Klein, Lance Mitchell, Pasha Jackson, and Dusty Dvoracek from that 2003 defense.

And Mike Stoops ;)

[jkjsooner]

On it's own merits, the '08 D was better than it generally gets credit for. The thing that hurt them a lot was that the special teams (namely KO returns) kept the D under the gun the entire year.

And that is why '08 does not belong on the list. The KO returns were historically bad that year and that is a major part of the game.

[jkjsooner]

Couldn't disagree more. The '03 team had a defense that was probably second to only LSU's that year. The '04 defense dropped off a bunch and it was showing it's problems well before the beating from 'SC. Obviously, AD made the '04 offense more balanced, but it didn't turn out to be more effective as his extra rushing yards seemed to come out of JWs reduced passing yards.

It wasn't just reduced yards due to less attempts. The passing game simply didn't click as well that year.

Given, I would have loved to have had Peterson for the Sugar Bowl the previous year.

[BoulderSooner79]

It wasn't just reduced yards due to less attempts. The passing game simply didn't click as well that year.

Given, I would have loved to have had Peterson for the Sugar Bowl the previous year.

Yes, I'd never diminish what AD did in '04 and a big time RB was a key missing element in '03 (maybe the only one). The other more plausible way we could have had a big time RB was if we hadn't pulled Q's redshirt in mid '99 and had him as a senior in '03. (More candy and nuts...).

[oSuJeff1997]

Since I've been paying close attention to college football (roughly early-to-mid 1980s), I would say that the 1986 and 2003 versions are the two best OU teams I've seen that didn't win it all.

[soonerboy_odanorth]

1915 - Owen's 10-0 Southwest Conference champs! (That's right. OU won the very first Southwest Conference Championship over Texas and Arkansas.)

[ouflak]

2003, 1972, 2008, 2004, 1986

[soonertodd]

1978,1973,1971,2003,1986