No El Paso for Sooners
Driving Florida’s Alligator Alley from Fort Lauderdale to Fort Myers to catch a flight home last Friday, we were discussing which bowl game OU might land in next season.
I thought maybe the Sun Bowl in El Paso, but then I figured no way the Sooners would fall below the Alamo in San Antonio.
Neither prediction was off base if you figured that Sam Bradford, G.K. McCoy, Jermaine Gresham and Trent Williams all went pro. Put them on the alumni list with Juaquin Iglesias, Manny Johnson, Phil Loadholt, Duke Robinson, Jon Cooper, Brandon Walker, Nic Harris and Lendy Holmes, and 2009 looked like a rebuilding year.
You’re talking about three first-team all-Americans and Williams, the only offensive line starter with eligibility remaining. One of the best tight ends in America, one of the best defensive tackles in America and a guy with a certain trophy sitting somewhere in his parents’ house.
Then came this week, when the Sooners’ holes didn’t open after all. McCoy is still in the middle. Gresham is back to roam terrified secondaries. Williams is back to anchor the line. And Slingin’ Sam returns to make another run at the Heisman.
Sorry, El Paso. The Sooners go from rebuilding to loaded. Go from mid-tier Texas bowl back into the national title picture.
It’s not crazy to paint the OU-Texas game as a national semifinal. Not crazy to think the Sooners might play Florida again for the national title.
One player can’t make that much of a difference, not even Sammy B. But four players can, when one of them is the quarterback who will take aim at greatest-in-school-history status.
The big losers Wednesday were Brigham Young and Miami, two non-conference foes in 2009 that figured they could catch a young Sooner team trying to find its footing. Instead, the Cougars and ‘Canes get to try to contain Bradford and his no-huddle express.
And that Texas grudge match, which seemed to be primed towards the Longhorns, suddenly looms as a shoot-out.
-------------Berry Tramel can be heard Monday through Friday from 4:40-5:20 p.m. on The Sports Animal radio network, including AM-640 and FM-98.1. You can e-mail him here and follow him on Twitter @BerryTramel. Visit Berry's website here.
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Comments
Walker, actually, you must think head-to-head-to-head doesn’t matter. It was a three-way tie, right? You must think Texas beat Texas Tech, right? You must think Texas doesn’t play the same teams Oklahoma plays right? How much of the sarcasm you attempted to you want me to throw back at you? Gripe all you want, but it wasn’t head-to-head. It was a three-way tie. Until you can admit that, stay off the board.
Reminds me of this classic quote from Seinfeld:
KRAMER: “El Paso? I spent a month one night in El Paso!”
Texas Tech barely beat Nebraska and Baylor AT HOME. They weren’t even part of the discussion and proved it again on New Years day. It was Texas vs OU and that one was decided on the field of play, a neutral site at that. It’s ok… the BCS whipping boys from Norman won’t get the benefit of the doubt next time. No wonder the ACC and SEC account for such a huge blunder in their tie breaker rules.
So if you get beat by a bad team, it doesn’t count? What ignorant logic is that? Oh yeah, it is Texas logic. The only games that count are the ones THEY think should count.
It was clearly between Texas and OU. Who won? Most scribes outside Texas sided with UT.Gee…I wonder why..45 to 35. It’s ok… watching Stoops choke again was fun. Thanks.
Probably about as much fun as Mack Brown(aka Gomer Pyle) make a total a$$ of himself after Texas lucked their way past Ohio State. Yeah Mack, that was such an overwhelming performance that everyone thinks your team is #1. Mack is a classless clown.
Did I just hear someone from OU talking about class? OMG, did you realize that OU has a campus building named after BARRY SWITZER!? And oh yea that classless clown is about to put whoopin number 4 out of the last five on the BCS choke artist. Enjoy!
Just like Texas fans to not be able to count (Frank this means you). It’s 3 of the last 4 (2005,2006,2008 for UT and 2007 for OU). We could always say 6 out of the last 9 (2000,2001,2002,2003,2004,2007 for OU and 2005,2006,2008 for UT) It works for OU fans as well. Texas get over it. You lost a tie-breaker and no matter what you say it was a 3 way tie. You cannot discount any team when all have identical records and only have 1 loss each (to each other). This means that the head to heads must be eliminated and go on another method. The Big 12 wants its champion to have the best shot at playing for the national title and that’s why we have the tie breaker we have. It didn’t fall your way this year, doesn’t make the rule wrong.
The key is the offensive line, wasn’t four of five seniors? They gave Bradford excellent protection during the season. Alot of QB’s could be pretty accurate with that much time. Hopefully the replacements are up to the task or it could be a very long season like our Huskies 0-12.
National Semi-final? Huh? OU will just run it up on some bad teams and then when Texas beats them it wont matter isnt that the way it works? Head to head doesnt matter…right?