I just want to be on the record early...

[Soonerus]

...I think OU will be the MNC for next year (06/07)...I believe....

[BASSooner]

it could happen. We do have Stoops by the way. In 07, I know it will happen, if AD comes back, that's a guarantee win.

[Soonerus]

No B.S., we have it all, except maybe a punter...just outstanding talent across the board, as good as I can remember in a while...

[OUGreg723]

Yeah. I am almost positve we will win another national title sometime in the next 4 years. Hopefully this year or next year.

[soonerhubs]

Let it be on the record. I predict this time next year, AD is showing off his ring to the other Whorns, along with a fancy trophy.

[Desert Sapper]

Let it be on the record. I predict this time next year, AD is showing off his ring to the other Whorns, along with a fancy trophy.

AD is a Sooner. Even if he does come from Baja, he is most assuredly not a Hook 'em . But hopefully he will have a cool crossing guard trophy and a big #8 ring to show off on draft day.

[FlatheadSooner]

We'll be a contender for both next two seasons.
:)

[XingTheRubicon]

I think it's a longshot that we beat Oregon AND Texas.

We have talent, but I don't see:

a Mark Clayton

or a

Roy Williams

or a

Josh/Jason

or a

Trent Smith

or a

Jamaal Brown

and so on.

I do see Derek Strait and a Q upgrade...


not the same, these guys don't have "it."

I hope I'm wrong. I'm not, but I hope I am.

[oumartin]

i say OU loses to oregon and beats Texas.

[Desert Sapper]

I think it's a longshot that we beat Oregon AND Texas.



I think it was a major longshot that we beat K-State, Texas, and Nebraska in successive weeks in 2000. What with not having a Jamelle Holieway, a Brian Bosworth, a Tony Casillas, a Keith Jackson, a Tim Lashar, an Anthony Philips, a Rickey Dixon, a Kevin Murphy, a Darrell Reed, an Anthony Stafford, a Spencer Tillman, or a Lydell Carr...at least, not that we knew about in the Spring of 2000. Hell, we went 7-5 and lost in the dad gum Independence Bowl to Mississippi of all teams at the end of 1999. Who would have pegged a JUCO QB from an obscure college in Utah to lead the Sooners to #7? Especially after losing 5 games, including 2 of the last 3 and a bowl game?

You know what made that team successful? Willpower and teamwork. They had a rough year in 1999 and lost close games to Notre Dame in South Bend, to Texas, to Colorado in Boulder, and to Texas Tech in Lubbock. They grew in that rough year into a team. And what a magnificent team it was.

I'm not going to blow sunshine up your pooper and tell you it's going to be easy this year, but I think we have guys that resemble the stars you mentioned in far greater abundance than you think. I think these kids have made some big strides, and it doesn't hurt that we get Washington in Norman before the trip to Oregon, then play MTSU in Norman before getting a two week break for RRS. It's not like we are talking about the same mountain that the team faced going into October of 2000.

And, oh by the way, that team didn't have Jammal Brown or Mark Clayton, either. We did have Bubba Burcham, Howard Duncan, Al Baysinger, Frank Romero, Antwone Savage, Andre Woolfolk, Josh Norman, and Damian Mackey, though. Not a single one of those guys will have an NFL career like Mark Clayton or Jammal Brown (except maybe Woolfolk), but unlike Mark and Jammal, they all have a NC Ring.

Name dropping sure is fun.

[XingTheRubicon]

fyi- I never used the 2000 MNC team an any base of reference in my comparison.

I just simply used recent former Sooners who had "it."


Mark Clayton as a frosh in '01 at the RRS. Watch how he runs after the catch, how he blocks, etc. That can't be taught, not like that it can't.

Just an observation...

also last year, I was 1 of 3 out of about 100 Soonerfans that predicted that OU would finish out of the top 10. We don't get to win on Saturdays just because we have OU on the helmets. The other teams want to win too, sometimes quite badly.

[Rogue]

As with any NC team, we'd need that secret ingredient.
Call it luck, Sooner Magic, a healthy O-line, whatever.
We'd need a whole big can of it this year.

[stoops the eternal pimp]

a guy bet me 100 bucks today that the sooners wont make the next 5 championship games....i asked him to go ahead and make out his check but he really thinks they wont go back for at least 6-7 years

[olevetonahill]

Any one wanta go back and find my prediction for the Holiday ?
Heres mine for the next 2 years .
AD Heisman , OU # 8 mnc
07 RB Heisman , OU # 9 ;)

[mOUse]

The youth up front on O concerns me a bit, especially considering UT has nearly all the defensive starters back on the front and LB positions. The only key losses they have on D are Huff and Griffin, I didn't think their MLB was that great anyway. So either our O line will have matured faster than any O line in the history of football or Bomar will have the game of his life, in order for me to be comfortable in saying OU will win. But, being a Sooner Fan I will still give them the edge.
The reason: Special teams. The place kicker, holder and punter are all new this year.
Offense: Vince Young and David Thomas are no more (although I will say that Sweed snatched some nasty Young passes and made Young look good). With a rookie QB I see Venables going back to his undercutting aggressive interception pressure tactics that he used with Simms and Young in his first couple of years. But with a huge experienced front line and a decent ground game (minus Cedric Benson), I don't see it working as well as in 2000-2004. One more key element, often overlooked is the Fullback position. Hall is gone and that will likely change the running scheme to more sweeps and passes to the RB's and that WILL play into OU's hands. We've got plenty of speed and a great LB crew to boot.

I see this year being a average scoring, tight game, won off of UT's special teams mishaps giving OU good field position. I see UT with strict ball control offense punching it in 3 times with that massive experienced line, but having to resort to the throw in the 4th quarter and failing to score that last TD. I see OU behind early as they pound AD at their Top 5 Defensive line and not having much success in the fiirst half...then they will loosen the reigns a bit and expose the corner and strong safety positions to tie things up in the third with 2 TD's scored. Then I think UT will adjust, laying back the LB's to cover the corners allowing AD to come up through middle for some receptions to keep it rolling for the Sooners.
27-23 OU WINS in OT.Hook 'em and they never look back!

Boomer Sooner!

[SleestakSooner]

I still believe it was a lot to do with luck in 2000. Mostly in the form of a complete lack of severe injuries. How often do teams that compete that hard on that level go a whole season without losing at least one key player to injury?
We can call it Sooner Majic or whatever we like, but without even one of our key players in any given game (ie; no Torrence Marshall at aTm) and it's a whole different season possibly.

[FlatheadSooner]

Any one wanta go back and find my prediction for the Holiday ?
Heres mine for the next 2 years .
AD Heisman , OU # 8 mnc
07 RB Heisman , OU # 9 ;)


We'll be a contender for both next two seasons.
:) :rolleyes: Hook 'em :eek: ;)

[CatfishSooner]

I agree w/ Soonerus! We win it all next year!...

[olevetonahill]

a guy bet me 100 bucks today that the sooners wont make the next 5 championship games....i asked him to go ahead and make out his check but he really thinks they wont go back for at least 6-7 years
Big 12 or MNC ? either way balsy move lol ;)

[stoops the eternal pimp]

MNC...we dont have to win it just get there

[goingoneight]

AD is a Sooner. Even if he does come from Baja, he is most assuredly not a Hook 'em . But hopefully he will have two cool crossing guard trophies and a big #8 and #9 ring to show off on draft day.

fixed.

[RedstickSooner]

With Bomar's mobility, we can scheme around a moderately porous O-line. The o-line's weakness should mostly hurt AD's running.

My main concern is that we find a way to teach our receivers to *receive*.

We do that, we're in good shape.

[shavedmarmoset]

We have the talent. We have the coach. We need the mentality.

[NormanPride]

Guys, seriously. Don't drink the kool-aid. It's SPRING. We don't even have the incoming freshmen yet. And if you haven't noticed, I think we have a total of 8 offensive linemen, with one thinking about transferring. We have a LONG way to go before we can even think about competing for championships again.

I'll agree that the D has the potential to be championship worthy, but if the O can't keep them off the field, they're going to get tired and injured and it's gonna be last year all over again. The two things I want to see this year: Bomar hitting a higher percentage of his passes, and the OL being what OU should expect from an OLine.

I'm with Martin on this one. I say we lose to Oregon early because of youth and lack of depth on the OLine, beat Texas because of D and because AD is a gamer, and maybe lose one more that we shouldn't, a la Texas Tech (Mizzou?). That could still put us in the Big 12 CCG, and a possible BCS berth.

Personally, that would make me very, VERY happy.

[MojoRisen]

I am actually drinking some cool aid- Our Oline will be good and 2 deep good.

[NormanPride]

You know what else helped our insane D in 2001? The best punter ever. We don't exactly have that right now.

Our O has to eat clock, something that I'm worried Wilson is loathe to do... We have to be efficient, something I'm afraid Bomar isn't good at yet, and we have to win the field position game, something I don't think Knall can do yet.

Good Lord, I'm turning into jkm. :D

[TheGodfather889]

...I think OU will be the MNC for next year (06/07)...I believe....
I sure hope so. But OU still needs to fill up some holes if they want a National Title.

[Crimson and Orange]

Anyone who thinks OU won't be in the hunt is bonkers. These are BoDog's futures odds to win the BCS title for the 2006 season:

Odds to win the 2006 BCS Championship

Oklahoma 6/1
Notre Dame 6/1
Ohio State 13/2
USC 8/1
West Virginia 9/1
Florida 11/1
Texas 12/1
LSU 12/1
Florida State 14/1
Miami 16/1

Texas a&m 100/1
Oklahoma State (not listed)

[Rock Hard Corn Frog]

I am actually drinking some cool aid- Our Oline will be good and 2 deep good.

You should join my cult. I have the best tasting kool-aid.

[NormanPride]

You should join my cult. I have the best tasting kool-aid.

Yeah, but the uniforms suck.