Stoops taking on Saban and SEC again

[Sabanball]

I'll defend your coach a little on this one. Nick is usually a little more guarded in the words he uses, but when he used the term 'consolation game' in describing the Sugar Bowl on the radio that day(I was listening to it)I knew right then that he had stepped in it. Bob has caught some flack for his response to it that I really don't understand.

Up until now, Bob has had our number and it is what it is. The good thing about the four team playoff format is we should get some opportunities to hopefully work toward evening up that 1-3-1 record that we have against you guys.

[swardboy]

Sumlin mouths off....

Kevin Sumlin issues challenge to Bob Stoops

Posted by Brent Sobleski on July 26, 2014, 6:21 PM EDT
Oklahoma head coach Bob Stoops recentlytook a shot at a former rival, the Texas A&M Aggies, and their soft non-conference scheduleduring an interview with ESPN. Texas A&M coach Kevin Sumlin didn’t back down from the challenge when asked about Stoops’ comments.

“Coach Stoops has the right to say whatever he wants, but if he wants to play us again we’ll take him up on that,” Sumlin told aggiesports.com.

It was the perfect response from Sumlin. Not only does he avoid going tit-for-tat with Stoops, but it’s a potential opportunity to strengthen the Aggies’ schedule in the future and rekindle a playing relationship against Texas A&M’s former conference, the Big 12.

The reality is Stoops was correct in his assessment. Texas A&M doesn’t play a bunch of “toughies.”

Since Sumlin took over the program, the Aggies’ non-conference schedule has included the Louisiana Tech Bulldogs, SMU Mustangs, South Carolina State Bulldogs, Sam Houston State BearKats, Rice Owls, UTEP Miners, Lamar Cardinal and ULM Warhawks.

Oklahoma, meanwhile, has scheduled the Notre Dame Fighting Irish (twice) and the Tennessee Volunteers over the same period.

The blame can’t be laid at Sumlin’s feet. Schedules are made years in advance. Even so, the programs Texas A&M scheduled were never among the country’s best. But that’s set to change in the coming years when Texas A&M plays the Arizona State Sun Devils (2015) and the UCLA Bruins (2016).

And there is still room to add the Sooners to those schedules.

[Mac94]

As I said in another thread ... the OOC mess is a result of our transition into the SEC and Arkansas (10 yr OOC contract) becoming a conference game. Next year we play Arizona St. in Houston, we also have a home and home lined up with Oregon and UCLA coming up. Same thing happened to us in the mid 90's when the Big-12 formed ... we had OOC contracts with Colorado (95 and 96) followed by Nebraska (97 and 98) as well as a contract with LSU thru 97. LSU broke contract following 1995 and the others became conference games which killed our OOC for most of the decade ... really didn't get back on track until 2000 with the start of the Notre Dame home and home. We have generally followed the same OOC template as most schools ... one marquee OOC with the rest being more "buy" home gates. Our "marquee" game, though, got messed up in the change of conferences.

[KantoSooner]

So, just to make things clear, TAMU's scheduling of the little sisters of the poor was an accident of fate and not a congenital wussiness related in an unknown way to the Corps of Cadets' love of beastiality with herding dogs?

[Mac94]

I figure Bob's comments about our schedule have to do with recruiting as much as anything else (as does Sumlin's reply). It could be taken as an SEC / playoff thing but let's be honest ... I don't think the playoff committee is going to have to worry about A&M this year. The SEC contender with the weakest OOC this year would be Bama .. but Bob won't call them out because to do that would be to insult W. Virginia and the Big-12 by extension. If the playoff committee is going to have to wrestle with a potential conference champ with a weak OOC ... there's a much better example sitting right there for Bob to use ... but he won't because OU has to face them November 8th. Baylor could be a real test case for the committee with their OOC of SMU, Northwestern St., and Buffalo.

[SoonerForLife92]

I wish every team regularly scheduled other powerhouses and non cupcakes, we would be able to tell a lot more from the regular season. Of course I completely agree with Stoop's comments, any coach or fan outside of the SEC or not a media sheep would see the truth in them.

On a side note.. Forgive my ignorance but what exactly is the difference between a home and home series and a home and away series?

[badger]

Get yourself a sports wife, fellas. We know our football:

“My wife woke up about seven. I was getting ready to go in the office. She said, ‘What did you find out?’ I said, ‘Well, the good news is we’re going to the Sugar Bowl, it looks like. The bad news is it looks like Alabama.’

“She says, right back, ‘They’re probably saying the same thing. They’ve gotta play Oklahoma.’

“That put a smile on my face and I went to work.”

[swardboy]

On a side note.. Forgive my ignorance but what exactly is the difference between a home and home series and a home and away series?

Home and home: Both games will be played at the same location. Usually cupcakes do this for the money.

[BoulderSooner79]

Get yourself a sports wife, fellas. We know our football:

Okay, but my current wife always gets mad when I do that. I'll probably have to clean out the garage or something.

[SoonerForLife92]

Home and home: Both games will be played at the same location. Usually cupcakes do this for the money.

Sooo in Mac's post is A&M the cupcake team to Oregon and UCLA ha