Give me a playoff
If the NCAA would adopt my playoff plan — an 11-team playoff, with only conference champions involved — think how great would be not just the playoff, but the regular season. That’s the problem with all the 16-team or 8-team playoffs. When you bring in the wild cards and at-large berths, you’ve got just as big a mess as we’ve got now, and you’ve watered down the regular season.
But if only conference champs were involved, we would hit December with still seven conference titles to be determined: Big 12, ACC, Pac-10, SEC, Conference USA, Mid-American and Sun Belt. Talk about a royal Saturday. Do-or-die is what makes for great theater, and that’s what we’ve had the last couple of weeks, and what we would have Saturday, and then what we would have in the ensuing playoff, in which five teams would get first-round byes and the other six champs would fill out the bracket.
My plan is the best combination of protecting the regular season while also creating a post-season buzz.
Nice tough by the Bedlam bands
Bedlam football provided something I’d never seen before. A combined performance by the OU and OSU marching bands, doing a tribute to the Centennial. The field was arrayed with crimson and orange musicians, and while they stood with their backs to each other — except for the OSU percussion section, which mingled with the Pride of Oklahoma — that was for volume purposes, not a political statement.
It was a nice gesture and maybe took a little of the rancor out of the series, which has become more and more bitter in this Internet age. My brother-in-law, an OSU season ticket holder, turned down a ticket to the game Saturday because of the way he was treated by the Owen Field crowd when he went to the 2005 Bedlam game. Ex-OU quarterback Nate Hybl told me he was treated worse on the sidelines in Stillwater than anywhere else he played.
There is plenty of blame to go around. Maybe the bands can remind us that we’re all in this together. Oklahomans and Americans.
Bedlam gets interesting
This game could still get interesting. Sam Bradford’s what’s-he-doing pass, intercepted by Jacob Lacey and run back to the OU 1-yard line, put OSU back in this game. Funny start to this half for the Sooners. Third-and-1, and Bradford throws deep, and incomplete, leading to OU’s first punt. Then OU’s running game is finally stuffed by the Cowboys, leading to a 3rd-and-12 and the Lacey interception.
Disaster for the Cowboys
Disaster has just struck OSU. First-and-goal at the 1-yard line, and OSU sends Julius Crosslin up the middle twice for no gain. Then Zac Robinson is stuffed for no gain on a counter option. Finally, the Sooners stretch out a fourth-down option play, with Marcus DeGranger corralling Robinson, who seemingly panicked and tossed the ball into the end zone. D.J. Wolfe picked up the fumble and ran it back to the OU 13-yard line. So in addition to not scoring, the Cowboys let the Sooners out of the shadow of the end zone.
Here’s my problem with the series. Crosslin. Nothing against Juice, but you’ve got this amazing offense with Robinson and Dantrell Savage, and you give up two downs giving the ball to a guy who carries once or twice a game. As Mike Gundy has said many times, his offensive line is not overpowering. So why try to overpower the Sooner interior?
OSU can run the ball. With 2:25 left in the half, OSU has 116 rushing yards, and that includes an 8-yard sack. Robinson has 58 yards on 12 carries and Savage 49 yards on six carries. But Julius Crosslin got two straight handoffs when the Cowboys sniffed the goal line.
Big day for Patrick
Sometimes you don’t want to make outlandish predictions too early, but here’s one. Allen Patrick could break OU’s single-game rushing today. Patrick has 107 yards on 10 carries so far — his 33-yard run just set up Chris Brown’s 3-yard touchdown. That’s through 18 minutes and 11 seconds. So Patrick is on pace for 33-34 carries and 358 yards. The OU record is Greg Pruitt’s 294 yards vs. Kansas State in 1971. Patrick could get that today, if the Sooners keep feeding him the ball. And with no DeMarco Murray to eat up carries, why wouldn’t they keep feeding Patrick?
Zac attacks
Zac Robinson’s value to Oklahoma State’s offense was apparent on the 87-yard touchdown drive the Cowboys just produced. Thirteen plays, and 10 were either Robinson runs or passes. Dantrell Savage carried thrice for 18 yards, but Robinson carried seven times for 55 yards and threw a 16-yard touchdown pass to Savage on a lovely touch pass over the OU blitz.
The Sooner pass rush seems potent through one quarter, but OSU can offset that with Robinson. His quick dashes on scrambles can slow that pass rush. The only downside to Robinson’s play: He’s taking some hits, including a solid blow that led to a fumble (Brandon Pettigrew recovered to keep the drive alive). Robinson’s health will be at risk if he carries nine times a quarter, as he’s done so far.
Land run start
Bob Stoops admitted early in the week that OU got away from the running game too soon in Lubbock. The Sooners seem intent on not making that mistake in Bedlam. We’ve played less than nine minutes at Owen Field, and OU has rushed for 91 yards on 13 carries. Allen Patrick has 66 yards on seven carries and Chris Brown 25 yards on six carries.
OU is not fooling around. There seems to be no obvious passing down. First series, 3rd-and-7, handoff to Brown for six yards, setting up a fourth-down conversion. Second series, 2nd-and-12, blast play up the middle to Patrick, who broke a tackle or two and dashed 41 yards. Then, 3rd-and-8, shotgun handoff to Brown for 12 yards to the 5-yard line, from where Patrick scored the next play.
The Sooners lost their attitude in Lubbock. They seem ready to get it back.
Miles to Michigan?
LSU’s triple-overtime loss to Arkansas means Michigan can go after its man a month earlier than if the Bayou Bengals had made the national championship game. Les Miles’ dream job is Michigan, and no one can blame him for bolting LSU for his alma mater. Miles couldn’t very well dance with Michigan during a national-championship race, but with LSU playing for lesser status goals — the SEC title, a Sugar Bowl berth — Miles might go ahead and take the Michigan job early.
The question is, what becomes of Bo Pelini, the LSU defensive coordinator who was Bob Stoops’ co-defensive coordinator in 2004 and long-time family friend from Youngstown? Pelini was a very popular d-coordinator at Nebraska in 2003 and is one of the popular picks to take over for Bill Callahan, who surely coached his last game Friday, a 65-51 loss at Colorado. Pelini might be a candidate to take over at LSU, too.
LSU is a better job than Nebraska these days, though Lincoln is a better place to live. The football culture of Nebraska is demanding but more civil. LSU has a better talent pool, but the Big 12 North is an easier landmine than the SEC West. If Pelini gets his choice, he ought to take Nebraska.
LSU’s loss also is one more reason for OU to kick itself for losing at Texas Tech. The only downside to making the national title game was a possible matchup with LSU in New Orleans. That was a miserable experience for anyone from Oklahoma — fans, players, coaches — independent of the game, because of LSU’s abrasive fans. But now, LSU will not be in New Orleans for the title game. If OU had won out, the Sooners would be playing Ohio State or West Virginia for the national championship.
Hardware up for grabs
Here’s another great thing about this college football season. It’s Thanksgiving Friday, and of the nine pennant races that matter most — Big Ten, Big East and Pac-10 titles; division crowns in the Big 12, SEC and ACC — only three have been decided.
Ohio State is the Big Ten champion, and that’s decided because the Big Ten has closed up shop until the bowls. LSU has won the SEC West. And Boston College has clinched the ACC Atlantic. But all the other first-place finishes are up for grabs:
* Big East: West Virginia and Connecticut play Saturday for the title.
* Pac-10: USC and Arizona State lead, with Oregon a half game behind. Oregon wins all the tiebreakers. The Ducks play UCLA on Saturday and Oregon State on Dec. 1. Also on Dec. 1, Arizona State plays Arizona and USC plays UCLA.
* ACC Coastal: Virginia plays Virginia Tech for the title Saturday.
* SEC East: Tennessee wins the East if it wins Saturday at Kentucky. Otherwise, Georgia wins the East.
* Big 12 South: I assume you know this, but OU wins with a victory over OSU on Saturday. Texas wins the South it beats Texas A&M and OU loses Bedlam. If both OU and Texas close, then the Sooners, Longhorns and OSU tie for the South, with the BCS standings breaking the tie. OU likely would advance.
* Big 12 North: Missouri and Kansas play for the title on Saturday.
That’s great drama going into the final primary Saturday of the regular season and also why any expanded playoff system should include only conference champions. Think of the drama if on the day after Thanksgiving, 17 teams remained in the hunt for the national title.
And that’s not even counting the mid-majors, where conference titles remain up for grabs. Brigham Young has won the Mountain West, but Hawaii and Boise State play tonight for the WAC title; Troy and Florida Atlantic play Dec. 1 for the title, unless the Howard Schnellenbergers lose Saturday to winless Florida International; either Tulsa or Houston will play Central Florida for the Conference USA title; and Central Michigan and Miami-Ohio play in the Mid-American Conference title game.
Count ‘em up. Establish an 11-team playoff, and here as we eat a turkey sandwich for lunch the day after Thanksgiving, 27 teams would remain in the title hunt. With lots of drama still to come before we get to the 11-team bracket.
Remembering Youngstown
Last week, on the 25th anniversary of the death of Korean boxer Deuk-Koo Kim, ESPN aired a documentary on the life and boxing career of Ray “Boom Boom” Mancini, the fighter whose blows in the ring led to Kim’s death four days later. Mancini’s career never was the same after that tragedy.
Mancini grew up in Youngstown, Ohio. On Detroit Avenue. On the same block as all the kids of Ron and Dee Stoops. Boom Boom Mancini was a 1979 graduate of Cardinal Mooney High School, one year behind Bob Stoops, one year ahead of Mike Stoops.
The mention of Mancini on Tuesday released a flood of memories for Bob Stoops. They played Pop Warner football together. High school baseball. They roamed the streets of Youngstown. All the boys around the neighborhood would congregate in someone’s basement, and they would rope off a ring and have bouts. “I didn’t box him, though; no one fought Ray,” Stoops said. “You kiddin’ me?”
The more Stoops talked about Mancini, the more he talked about Youngstown. The DeBartolo family, which would go on to own the San Francisco 49ers, and Carmen Policy, who would run the 49ers during their Joe Montana heyday. Patriarch Edward DeBartolo Sr. flew the Stoops family to the Rose Bowl when Bob and Mike were Iowa defensive backs in the early 1980s. Jerry Angelo, the Chicago Bulls general manager. Bernie Kosar, the Cleveland Browns and Miami U. quarterback who is a couple of years younger than Mike Stoops. The Pelini family, including Bo, the LSU defensive coordinator and 2004 co-defensive coordinator for OU.
The Stoopses had six kids, the Pelinis seven. “All of us graduated together,” Bob Stoops said, meaning both families had kids about the same age. Vince Pelini was a co-captain with Stoops on the Cardinal Mooney High School basketball team.
Tuesday, a few minutes after Stoops left his press conference, he called my cell phone because he remembered yet another boyhood pal from Youngstown who went on to the sporting spotlight. Jackie Loew, a football teammate of Stoops at Cardinal Mooney, is the trainer for the new middleweight champion of the world, Kelly Pavlik, who beat Jermain Taylor on Sept. 30. Loew remains a close friend of Stoops; Loew was in Norman on Nov. 3 to attend the OU-A&M game as Stoops’ guest.
Stoops smiled as he talked about those Youngstown days. In the basement, a kid would hit a pole, “ding!”, to signify the bell, “and there you’d go. You didn’t want to fall down on the cement floor. One of your buddies would be your corner man.”
Stoops recalled Mancini. They played Pop Warner football on the Little Redmen team. “People don’t realize what a really good athlete he was,” Stoops said. “He was a scatback in football. In basketball, the point guard. In baseball, he played infield or pitched.”
Ron Stoops Sr. was a long-time football coach but baseball had been his best sport, and he was the Cardinal Mooney baseball coach. When Mancini got into high school, his boxing career took off. The Golden Gloves was big in Ohio; “back home, that arena would be full,” Stoops said. Mancini let the other sports go. But Ron Stoops told Mancini he could come out for the baseball team and miss whenever he needed to, for boxing. So Mancini would play a game or two for Mooney, “then he’d be gone for the next two weeks,” Bob Stoops said.
Mancini and Stoops remain friends. They talked a half hour or so a couple of weeks ago, Stoops said. Mancini hasn’t been to an OU home game yet, but he was at the USC Orange Bowl. Mancini lives in southern California and was scheduled to come visit the Sooners during their Rose Bowl trip, but his mother died that day. “His mom used to drive us around to all the basketball game,” Stoops said, remembering Youngstown days.
The loss to Texas Tech was only three days removed, and the Bedlam showdown only four days away, but for a few moments, it wasn’t 2007. Stoops took us all back to the 1970s, and Youngstown, Ohio.
