Reading Jake Trotter’s stuff in today’s Oklahoman about OU being No. 1 in the polls, I thought of a new analogy.
The football polls are like a golf tournament. You want to be No. 1, you want to be the leader, but the most important thing is being in position. It’s hard to win the Masters with an opening-round 77 and it’s hard to make the Big Bowl if you lose to TCU in September.
Jake’s fast facts about OU being No. 1 is what grabbed me. OU has been ranked No. 1 at some point in a season 18 times. The Sooners have won seven national titles, so that means 11 years in which OU was No. 1, it lost the lead.
Of course, what’s more relevant is at what point in the season OU was No. 1. In other words, did the Sooners lead the Masters on Sunday or on Thursday? Big, big difference.
Here’s a good way to think of the college football season. Through September is the first round, when you’ve got a decent idea of who the contenders might be, but there still will be lots of rising and falling. Through October is the second round, when there’s a cut and it’s getting serious. Through November is the third round, and you’re down to just a few possibilities. Then December and January become the equivalent of golf’s Sunday.
So let’s look at the years in which OU was ranked No. 1:
2003: Lost on Sunday. No. 1 all season until December.
2002: Shared No. 1 spot with Miami one week in September, then fell from contention with November loss to A&M. So this was a Saturday fallback.
2000: I assume you know about. Came charging on Friday, taking the lead in October.
1987: No. 1 all season except one week in November, then lost the Orange Bowl to Miami.
1986: Lost to Miami in September and chased the Hurricanes and Penn State all season.
1985: A wild tournament. OU was No. 1 in September but dropped without losing. Then an October loss to Miami sent the Sooners reeling. Came back in the Orange Bowl to win the national championship, so this was an Arnold Palmer-like Sunday charge.
1978: Took over No. 1 in September, lost it November with the defeat at Nebraska and never got back. If you ever a golf analyst say somebody played the best in the tournament but didn’t win, think of the ‘78 Sooners.
1977: Lost No. 1 ranking and regained it, all in September, then loss to Texas sent OU scrambling. Sooners were poised to win with a victory over Arkansas in the Orange Bowl, but Lou Holtz had something to say about that.
1975: No. 1 until October, when a narrow victory over Colorado dropped the Sooners. Then the loss to Kansas in November made OU have to stage a rally to win. One of the great comebacks to win a tournament.
1974: The leader in the clubhouse. Banned from bowl games, the Sooners had to get to No. 1 and hope. OU was No. 1 in September but dropped after a sluggish win over Baylor. The Sooners returned to the top of the leaderboard in November, then sweated out the bowl games, where No. 2 Alabama and No. 3 Ohio State lost, and No. 4 Michigan didn’t play.
1963: OU was No. 1 in September but tumbled after losing to Texas and never returned to contention.
1958: Rose to No. 1 for one week in September, but dropped after a 6-0 win over Oregon, then lost to Texas and struggled to return to contention.
1957: Crazy tournament. OU entered this season having won 40 straight games. Yet the Sooners dropped from No. 1 after a 21-7 win over Texas. A week later, OU was back on top but dropped again after a 13-7 victory over Kansas State. Think about that; a school with a 46-game winning streak was not deemed the No. 1 team in the nation. So yes, when Notre Dame, on Nov. 9, 1957, beat the Sooners 7-0 to end the epic 47-game winning streak, Oklahoma was ranked No. 2.
1956: Sooners, in the fat part of that winning streak and the defending national champions, weren’t No. 1 all year. They dropped to No. 2 in October after a 34-12 win over Kansas. Michigan State’s loss put the Sooners back to No. 1, but they dropped again after a 44-0 rout of Iowa State. A 67-14 thrashing of Missouri restored the Sooners to the top of the leaderboard.
1955: Didn’t rise to No. 1 until November, but stayed there once they got there.
1954: Started out No. 2, swapped places with Notre Dame in September but a week later did the same. OU rose to No. 1 in October but fell without losing and never got back.
1950: Rose to No. 1 in November and stayed there.
October 1st, 2008 at 12:10 pm
Thanks for an interesting read, Barry.
after Reading about 1955 - 57. It puts into perspective all the teeth gnashing by UGA fans when they slipped a couple of spots after winning early in the season, even though they had done nothing to deserve any benefit of the doubt.