OUSKINS
2/8/2007, 12:02 PM
First of all, never in a million years did I think I'd utter the words "trap game" for OU this year. At best, I thought we'd be a "trap game" for some other teams in the league.
But with our two emotional home victories, along with the dismantling we gave to NU, CU, and Baylor, the team should be feeling pretty good right now.
But Baylor looms...and that 40 point loss is surely on their minds. Baylor isn't "good," but they aren't nearly as bad as they looked in LNC. They played both OSU and UT tough on the road.
This is almost as much a test for Capel as the past two games. The emotional/motivation angle the past two games has been easy-- rival teams, fired up fans, avenging losses, etc....
Now, it gets a bit trickier. Suddenly, we find ourselves in a bit of a favorite role-- at least against the bottom half of the league.
I'll be honest-- if we win these next two games (at Baylor, at ISU), I truly belive you can punch our dance card. I mean that. We'd be 16-8; 7-4, and we'd be entrenched near the top of the conference standings. Obviously, we'd still have some work to do, but our chances would be VERY good.
But I don't think we'll win both of these games. My biggest fear is that we drop both. We've yet to win a road game, and that can't look good to the committee come selection Sunday.
This game has all the earmarks of a letdown-- it will be a big test for Capel and crew to overcome it, IMO.
I'll be in Cleveland this weekend: leaving tomorrow to see the Cavs play the Heat and the Lakers this weekend. But I'll find a sports bar somewhere and catch the Sooners-- needless to say, I'll be pretty nervous.
But with our two emotional home victories, along with the dismantling we gave to NU, CU, and Baylor, the team should be feeling pretty good right now.
But Baylor looms...and that 40 point loss is surely on their minds. Baylor isn't "good," but they aren't nearly as bad as they looked in LNC. They played both OSU and UT tough on the road.
This is almost as much a test for Capel as the past two games. The emotional/motivation angle the past two games has been easy-- rival teams, fired up fans, avenging losses, etc....
Now, it gets a bit trickier. Suddenly, we find ourselves in a bit of a favorite role-- at least against the bottom half of the league.
I'll be honest-- if we win these next two games (at Baylor, at ISU), I truly belive you can punch our dance card. I mean that. We'd be 16-8; 7-4, and we'd be entrenched near the top of the conference standings. Obviously, we'd still have some work to do, but our chances would be VERY good.
But I don't think we'll win both of these games. My biggest fear is that we drop both. We've yet to win a road game, and that can't look good to the committee come selection Sunday.
This game has all the earmarks of a letdown-- it will be a big test for Capel and crew to overcome it, IMO.
I'll be in Cleveland this weekend: leaving tomorrow to see the Cavs play the Heat and the Lakers this weekend. But I'll find a sports bar somewhere and catch the Sooners-- needless to say, I'll be pretty nervous.