The Sooners use 19 players extensively on offense. Amazingly, only three of those are from Texas: receivers Juaquin Iglesias and Manny Johnson, plus tackle Trent Williams.

Quarterback Sam Bradford, tight end Jermaine Gresham, tailback Mossis Madu and receivers Quentin Chaney and Ryan Broyles are from Oklahoma. Linemen Jon Cooper and Phil Loadholt are from Colorado. Guard Duke Robinson is from Georgia. Guard Brian Simmons is from North Carolina. Guard Brandon Walker is from Michigan. Tackle Branndon Braxton is from Ohio.  Tailback DeMarco Murray is from Nevada. Fullback Matt Clapp is from Arizona. Tailback Chris Brown is from Louisiana. Tight end Brody Eldridge is from Kansas. Receiver Brandon Caleb is from Virginia.

Defense is another matter. The Sooners are loaded with Texans on defense; 10 of their top 14 players.

From Texas are ends Auston English, Jeremy Beal and Alan Davis; tackles Cordero Moore, DeMarcus Granger and Cory Bennett; linebackers Keenan Clayton and Travis Lewis; cornerback Brian Jackson and safety Lendy Holmes.

From Oklahoma are tackle Gerald McCoy and cornerback Dom Franks. Linebacker Ryan Reynolds is from Nevada and safety Nic Harris is from Louisiana.

Kickers Jimmy Stevens and Matthew Mooreland are from Oklahoma, with punter Mike Knall from Arizona. Deep snapper James Winchster is from Oklahoma.

So that makes 36 Sooners who play a lot; only 13 are from Texas. That’s a much lower percentage than usual.

It’s a football version of an Elite Eight game.

Elite Eight games are the regional finals of the NCAA basketball tournament, played on that Saturday and Sunday to determine the Final Four participants.

Well, the football calendar is different. Football is a sport that doesn’t crunch all its best games and matchups into a frenzied three weekends starting in mid-March. Football’s survivor contest is spread throughout the season.

And OU-Texas is often an Elite Eight game. Not always, but often. The OU-Texas winner has the inside track to the Big 12 South Division title. Lots of other barriers remain, especially this season, but still, the OU-UT winner likely will be in Kansas City for the Big 12 title game.

And in 2008, it’s becoming more and more apparent that the Big 12 champ will be in the Big Bowl, the BCS championship game.

That makes OU-Texas an Elite Eight game, the Big 12 title game a national semifinal and the Big Bowl in Miami the championship.

He’s already run out of room in the pressbox and will have to find places to squeeze in the media.

But the crush started earlier in the week. Monday night, I went out to OU’s post-practice briefing, and it was like a Southwest sportswriters convention.

Three Oklahoman writers. Two Tulsa World writers. One Norman Transcript. Several Internet reporters. And writers from the Dallas Morning News, Austin American-Statesman, Fort Worth Star-Telegram, Houston Chronicle and San Antonio News-Express.

That was just for Monday. The Stoops press conference on Tuesday was even worse, with the same guys back, plus more. A couple of Dallas TV stations, all the OKC and Tulsa electronic media, even Tim Cowlishaw, now star of stage and screen with ESPN’s Around the Horn and still a Dallas Morning News columnist but an OU beat writer for The Oklahoman in a previous life.

I was on a Kansas radio show yesterday, and someone asked me if this was the most exciting building up to an OU-UT game, and I said not necessarily. It’s no different than the other times when the Sooners and Longhorns came in as top-five teams.

But it’s also no less than those times. This is an electric week.

Look at the scores of the six Big 12 games last week: 58-28, 56-28, 52-17, 49-17, 35-33, 38-14.

Look at the scores of the SEC over the weekend: 13-9, 14-13, 17-14, 31-24, 38-7. Earlier in the year, we saw SEC games with finals of 14-7, 14-12 and 3-2.

Yes, I know the SEC has all those great defensive tackles and athletes who can run. But great athletes can play offense, too. It’s allowable under the rules.

And while yes, the Big 12 is in a golden age of quarterbacks, the SEC historically has better QB talent. Much better. The best Big 12 quarterbacks to make the NFL are Vince Young, Chris Simms and Sage Rosenfels. Meanwhile, the SEC counters with the Manning brothers, Jason Campbell, Jay Cutler and the like.

Is it coaching? Is it no more complicated than Mike Leach leaving the SEC almost 10 years ago for the Big 12?

I don’t know. But the difference in styles in the two leagues is amazing.

TEN BIGGEST LOSERS OF THE WEEK10. Alabama-Birmingham: The Blazers lost to Memphis 33-30 on a last-second field goal. UAB thought it was a good idea to fire program patriarch Watson Brown after the 2006 season. Since then, UAB is 3-15.

9. Arizona State: The Sun Devils lost at Cal. They are 2-3 and play only two games the rest of October, against USC and Oregon.

8. Fresno State: Pat Hill’s Bulldogs seemed a possible Orange Bowl team a few weeks ago. But after an overtime loss to struggling Hawaii, Fresno State is 3-2.

7. Javon Ringer: OK. I surrender. No Heisman Trophy for the Michigan State tailback after a pedestrian game (25 carries, 91 yards) against Iowa.

6. Tulane: The Green Wave lost at home. To Army. By a score of 44-13. The 1998 Tommy Bowden golden season seems a long time ago.

5. Big 12 parity: Five Big 12 teams hosted ranked conference foes. All five lost, and only Kansas’ 35-33 rally against Iowa State was close. Baylor lost by 32. Colorado by 24. Kansas State by 30. Nebraska by 35. The marquee matchups can’t get here quick enough.

4. Maryland: Sept. 27: Duke 31, Virginia 3. Oct. 4: Virginia 31, Maryland 0. Some things are just unexplainable.

3. South florida: Miami lost to Florida State 41-39 in a verdict that dooms the Hurricanes to a disappointing season, South Florida fell from the unbeaten ranks with a home loss to Pitt and even the Howard Schnellenbergers got in on the skid, with a 14-13 loss to Middle Tennessee on a last-play Hail Mary.

2. Wisconsin: Two weeks ago, I thought an Oklahoma-Wisconsin Big Bowl was quite possible. But the Badgers lost 20-17 at home to Ohio State for their second straight defeat and now have little shot at the Big Ten title.

1. Phil Fulmer: The hits just keep coming for the Tennessee coach. First, ex-Vol coach Johnny Majors ripped his former assistant. Then even victory doesn’t bring relief. In a 13-9 victory over Northern Illinois, the Vols managed just nine first downs and 225 total yards. Outside of a 52-yard TD pass, new quarterback Nick Stephens didn’t spark Tennessee, and it seems more and more likely that Fulmer is doomed in Knoxville.

BIRTHDAY BASHWe celebrated my brother-in-law’s sixth birthday Friday night. I’ve known him since we were kids.

Confused? Let me explain. Greg, my wife’s brother, was diagnosed with leukemia in March 2002. I spent a night with him at St. Anthony Hospital in between trips to San Jose and Atlanta for OU’s Final Four run that year.

In the autumn, he went to Baylor Medical Center in Dallas for a bone marrow transplant. I spent part of my OU-Texas weekend at Baylor.

I never ask the people I cover - coaches or players - for favors. But I made an exception that autumn.

Greg is an OSU season-ticket holder. One day in Stillwater for Les Miles’ weekly press conference, I handed Miles the phone number to Greg’s hospital room in Dallas and asked if he would mind giving him a call. Les called him before the day was out, talked 20 minutes and later sent him an autographed football.

Those days seem long ago. Today, Greg is healthy. His career is thriving and he plays golf every Saturday and goes to Stillwater for every Cowboy home game.

And every October, we celebrate his successful transplant.

REALITY RANKINGSOur rankings based not on what anyone thinks teams might do, but based on what team have done:

1. Alabama: One impressive win after another.

2. Vanderbilt: One unimpressive win after another.

3. Penn State: I don’t believe in the Nittanys, but they’ve earned it.

4. Utah: Why is everyone all fired up about BYU and not the Utes?

5. Southern Cal: Still a force.

6. Oklahoma: Sooners could challenge Bama with win over Texas.

7. Virginia Tech: What if Frank Beamer had played the right quarterback?

8. Missouri: Conference start means Big 12 powers will get some credit.

9. Texas: Win on the road, and you move up on this list.

10. Florida: Gators’ schedule very strong.

11. South Florida: Resume’ still solid despite loss to Pitt.

12. Ohio State: Don’t count out Buckeyes from another Big Bowl berth.

13. Wake Forest: Inexplicable loss to Navy only stain.

14. Notre Dame: Don’t look now, but the Irish aren’t bad.

15. California: Bears played one bad half, at Maryland; otherwise, they’ve been Golden.

BARBEQUE RANKINGSWe had Greg’s birthday bash at Earl’s Rib Palace, the one in Moore. Everybody knows about Earl’s, which has branched out from the original location on Western just north of 63rd. Edmond, Bricktown, Moore. A bunch of locations.

Earlier in the week, a Thunder employee, who relocated from Seattle, asked me about my favorite local restaurants, and it made me think about barbeque in Oklahoma City.

Here are my top five BBQ joints in Greater OKC:

5. Sooner Legends: In the old Ramada Inn in Norman, which has been turned into a Sooner Legends hotel and suites. Good food. How good? We hired them to cater the rehearsal dinner at my daughter’s wedding.

4. Kansas City Blues: Great lunch spot on Britton Road, about a quarter mile east of May Avenue. Excellent sandwich specials, with a pickle and onion bar that’s very tasty.

3. Earl’s Rib Palace: The Smokestack is a superb sandwich. Chopped brisket, topped with a hot link and cole slaw. Cole slaw with barbeque sauce - anywhere, not just at Earl’s - is good, so no reason to keep it off a sandwich.

2. Van’s Pig Stand: I go to the one in Norman, which is on Porter, just south of the hospital, at a location that has been barbeque since before I was born. Strick’s, in the old days, and Lindy’s, when I was a kid. The sauce is great, all the meat is good and the twice-baked potatoes are fantastic.

1. County Line: The long-time champ. The art deco building - an old 1930s speakeasy - is wonderful, with single-table private rooms and an elevated dining room and great rounded ceilings. The scenery is very un-OKC; sitting atop Persimmon Hill, the windows of the back dining room offer an amazing overlook. And the food is superb. Beef ribs, which are those big old things that are harder to eat than pork ribs but much heartier. Potato salad made from mayonnaise, which always is preferable to the mustard-based. In fact, the sides all are top of the line. The beans, the cole slaw. The bread is great.

TEN BIGGEST WINNERS OF THE WEEK10. Glen Coffee: The Alabama junior tailback is hitting his stride, with 218 yards on 25 carries against Kentucky, giving him 466 yards rushing in three SEC games.

9. Mid-majors: After losses by East Carolina and TCU the previous two weeks, the Unbeaten Club’s ranks didn’t wither this week. BYU, Utah, Boise State, Ball State and Tulsa all kept alive their BCS dreams.

8. Steve Spurrier: The ol’ ball coach still has some fight left. His Gamecocks won at Mississippi 31-24 to go to 4-2 and keep alive hopes for a decent season.

7. Illinois: The Illini routed Michigan 45-20 in the Big House to stay alive in the Big Ten race. It was just Illinois’ third win in Ann Arbor since 1966. But any win over Michigan is rare; the Illini haven’t beaten the Wolverines in Champaign since 1983.

6. Chris Crane: Turns out, Boston College had a pretty decent quarterback last year in Matt Ryan, now the Atlanta Falcons’ rookie phenom. Turns out, BC still has excellent quarterbacking. Crane threw for 428 yards on 34 of 51 passing as the Eagles won at North Carolina State, 38-31 in overtime.

5. Penn State: The Nittanys’ first road test - Syracuse doesn’t count - went smoothly, 20-6 at Purdue, and Joe Paterno can’t be discounted from the national championship race.

4. Navy: The Midshipmen have remained competitive without coach Paul Johnson, who jumped to Georgia Tech. Navy beat Air Force 33-27 in Colorado Springs, right after an upset win at Wake Forest. Annapolis isn’t West Point.

3. Pittsburgh: The Panthers upset South Florida 26-21 in Tampa to go to 2-0 in the Big East, with two road wins. How about another Pitt-Utah BCS bowl?

2. Big 12 quarterbacks: The new passer ratings are out, with Tulsa’s David Johnson No. 1. Then comes four straight Big 12 QBs, and eight of the nation’s top 18 passers. No. 2 Sam Bradford, No. 3 Zac Robinson, No. 4 Colt McCoy, No. 5 Chase Daniel, No. 10 Josh Freeman, No. 12 Graham Harrell, No. 14 Todd Reesing and No. 18 Joe Ganz.

1. Vanderbilt: Tulsa Union grad Mackenzi Adams quarterbacked the Commodores to an upset of Auburn, and now 5-0 Vandy is in crazy territory: 3-0 in the SEC, with a game at Mississippi State on Saturday. Vanderbilt could lead the SEC East deep into November.

Mark wrote, “Trap game, Baylor. Check the last three years. Baylor has caused OU a lot of trouble. Baylor blitzes a lot and plays bombs away on offense. Check the last 3 years. 2007: 28-14 at the half. 2006: 36-10. 2005: 37-30 (OT) in Norman. With a very mobile quarterback, more trouble. Trap game, Baylor. With Texas next week, OU will be looking past Baylor. I will be surprised if OU looks good.”

Well, it was no trap game, and the Sooners did look good, but you know what? Mark is right. Baylor generally plays OU tougher than it does a lot of people.

Howard wrote about OU’s offensive line, “I know the popular concept is that OU’s O-line is too big and heavy to run block. But not Cooper. Did you see him running step for step with Manny all the way to the goal line on his screen pass? He didn’t have anyone to block, but he was there anyway. I was very impressed. If they all hustled like that, run blocking would be one of their strengths.”

Actually, I don’t see a lot wrong with OU’s blocking. I’d just keep throwing until people back off.

Larry wrote, “Can you think of a reason, other than the unfair advantage afforded by these preseason polls, for OU to be ranked ahead of Alabama? I’m not implying that the Sooners don’t deserve a high ranking -sew my mouth shut if I’m ever guilty of disrespectin’ the Sooners - but based on their respective opponents and results so far, how could anyone justify ranking Oklahoma (or anyone else, for that matter) above the Tide?”

They can’t, which is why you must solely rely on my reality rankings to determine who deserves to be No. 1.

Keith wrote, “As I watched the Sooners from my recliner in Florida, I noticed that several of our players slipped on the turf. According to the Baylor website, they have some sort of synthetic turf, but it looked like dirt would fly when a player would slip. Can you tell me what kind of turf yesterday’s game was played upon? It seemed kind of dangerous for our players.”

You know, a guy has to wear many hats in my position. Poet. Historian. Therapist. So let’s add another. Agronomist. To answer the question, I have no idea what kind of turf Baylor has. Is there a reason to disbelieve its website? But I can tell you this. OSU’s old turf, from the late ’90s, had millions of bits of ground-up tires as its base. Those little devils were always flying up.

Derek asked, “How many tickets has OSU sold for the A&M game? I figure this would constitute the first real test of the wisdom of the expansion. Also, how about a story about the OU-Texas ticket conundrum. With 16,000 new seats and a shaky economy, you would figure some easing on the prices, but my searches have found the opposite. A decent seat on the OU side is running around $300 right now. Ouch.”

The OSU expansion looks like a home run so far to me. And OU-Texas tickets are like major-league franchise sales prices. They never go down.

James writes, “I’m going to jump ahead a little bit here and ask you a question. Let’s say OSU and MU win this weekend and set up a game between an undefeated top-five team and undefeated top-20 team. If OSU was to defeat MU, who would be ranked the highest, a one-loss MU or an undefeated OSU?

Excellent question, because voters are lemmings. I think OSU still would be higher, but it would be close. In fact, let me say this: OSU would be higher in AP. Mizzou would be higher in the coaches. The Harris poll is pin the tail on the donkey.

Bob wrote, “Even though I believe that OSU can be trouble for anyone this year, in my opinion everyone I hear on the radio is getting a little carried away with this team. They have absolutely played nobody. One thing that we do not know about this team is the offensive line and defensive line. OSU has people at the skill positions, but if they cannot block a good defense and/or get by a good offense, they will have problems. All I’m saying is don’t get carried away with scoring and defense against a weak schedule.”

Well, after A&M, you still can’t say OSU has played anybody. But the Cowboys are doing what good teams should do against bad teams. Knock the shot out of them.

OK, let’s move on to Mantle. Mary wrote, “My husband and I enjoyed your article about Mickey Mantle. We did not get to see him play, in person, but always followed the stories about him. When he became ill and went to Baylor Medical Center for the liver transplant, our niece was his nurse. When he learned that she was from Oklahoma, he became very friendly with her and they had many interesting talks.”

Wouldn’t that be interesting if you were in the medical field? Taking care of a famous person? I’ll bet it’s sort of a strange experience, seeing a person so vulnerable and different from their public persona.

Jim wrote, “Excellent column on Mantle. He had some warts, but I was lucky enough to talk to him three times, and he was very gracious and pleasant. Still have a scrapbook on him from my long-ago youth.”

That’s why I wrote what I did about the Mick. His grip on America has not waned.

Walt also wrote about Mantle. “I was a kid collecting baseball cards during Mantle’s early years. I was a Yankee fan but didn’t particularly appreciate him during that time … I once got into a discussion with a fellow who happened to be a minor league player in the late ’40s and ’50s. I asked the man to consider what Mantle might have done if he had hit against pitchers with the mound lowered, the strike zone reduced, brushbacks virtually eliminated and the outfield fences of Yankee Stadium at the lengths they are today. Without hesitation the old-timer said, “Mantle would have hit 800 home runs!” He may have hit 900 if he had played until he was 40. And more what-ifs: What if he had taken better care of his body, much like Carl Yastrzemski did? Or what if he had taken the route of McGwire, Sosa or Bonds? With the surgical techniques today, his knees may not have been a handicap. In short, Mantle was such a phenomenal athlete. If you ever saw Mantle drag bunt, it was a sight to behold. I saw on television one of the two shots he hit in Yankee Stadium that nearly cleared the third deck but hit the facade. All in all, Mantle was what baseball misses today, someone we can only dream of being, a player that is so good other players are awestruck. Thanks again. It was fun to remember.”

No reason to play what-if with Mantle. The reality was good enough.

Danny was all over the board. “Hope the Pokes don’t choke. That new pix and hairdo makes you look 25, so maybe you should stay with it. Also, Central State sucks with that OCS high school coach.

If you could see all the gray in my hair, you wouldn’t think 25.

And finally, Debra wrote about a subject from a few weeks back: “This is long overdue, but I wanted to thank you for your wonderful tribute to Don Haskins. Growing up a University of New Mexico basketball fan - UTEP is an arch-rival, as you know - I was always struck by his passion and dedication. He was a classy guy. Thanks for sharing your memories; they brought back a few of my own.”

I only talked to the Bear once or twice a year, but I miss him already.

Well, while Sudden Sam has skyrocketed into perhaps the Heisman lead, Murray is not even a thought for all-Big 12 tailback.

And it seems quite apparent that Murray is not the same player he was in 2007, before a broken kneecap ended his season. Murray was a home run hitter last year; not so this year. His speed and elusiveness seems much less than a year ago.

Murray remains OU’s most productive tailback, but not by much. Murray has 431 yards on 85 carries, a 5.1 yards per carry average. Chris Brown has 313 yards on 67 carries, a 4.7 yards per carry average.

But Murray made most of his hay against Chattanooga, a thoroughly outclassed opponent. Against the Mocs, Murray had gains of 49, 19 and 19 yards. Since then, his longest gain has been 14.

Truth is, the last four weeks, Brown has been more likely to break into the secondary.

Murray has not burst away from defenders. He hasn’t juked much of anybody, compared to what we saw in 2007. I don’t know if Murray is still recovering from the injury, or if he’s lost some speed he can’t get back. Either way, it’s clear he’s not the same player he was.

I’ve sort of got my groupie deal going, though. I love the Texas A&M band. The Fightin’ Texas Aggie Marching Band.

I try to see the Aggies twice a year. Doesn’t always work out, but I love seeing the A&M band, which will be in Stillwater tonight and will be the highlight for the Aggies. A&M will get drubbed in the first half, and the second half won’t matter, but the Ags always win halftime.

Anyway, I’ve thought about why I love the A&M band, and here’s why.

1. It plays songs you know. Halftime isn’t music appreciation class. Bands should play songs that fans can identify with.

2. It plays songs that inspire. Nothing wrong with Broadway. Nothing wrong with classics. Except Broadway songs belong on Broadway, and classical music belongs at poetry readings and concert halls.

A football field demands music that makes you stand up and cheer. Which the A&M band does. “The Aggie War Hymn.” “The Noble Men of Kyle.” “When Johnny Comes Marching Home Again.”

3. The A&M band marches. Watch the Aggie band tonight. Its members do not step sideways. Or backwards. They march forward, and if they want to go a different direction, they turn. This is no small thing.

Watch a regular marching band sometime. The side-steps and cross-steps inhibit the music. There’s no dancing with the Aggie band. It’s marching all the way.

Now, there are some problems with the Aggie band. Mostly, its alums are nuts. I’ve written several times about the A&M band, always in the same vein as this blog, and I routinely get emails from Aggie band alums, ready to fight over their honor being disparaged.

If I rip you, fine. But if you can’t even figure out when someone is praising you, I don’t know how to deal with that.

But that’s a small price to pay for the pleasure of having the A&M band in the Big 12 Conference.

Among the BCS conferences, only 12 undefeated teams remain, after South Florida’s demise.

Oklahoma, Missouri, Texas, Texas Tech and Oklahoma State from the Big 12. Alabama, LSU, Vanderbilt and Kentucky from the SEC. Penn State and Northwestern from the Big Ten. And Connecticut from the Big East.

What does the upset mean to the Big 12? It’s becoming more and more likely that the Big 12 will qualify a team for the Big Bowl, the national-title game in January. The prowess of the Big 12 means not only would an unbeaten Big 12 team absolutely qualify, but a once-beaten Big 12 champ almost surely would be selected, too.

It appears no league outside the Big 12 or SEC will produce an unbeaten squad, with the possible exception of Penn State. So unless the Nittany Lions run the table, OU (or Missouri or Texas for that matter) could stumble once along the way and still get to the championship game, so long as it won the Big 12 title.

Same holds true for the Southeastern Conference. A Big 12/SEC title game is on the horizon.

Goscha’s request? He would like the Sooners on Saturday to offer a helping hand up to Robert Griffin III, anytime the Baylor quarterback is knocked to the ground.

Solid piece of sportsmanship anyway, but Goscha has a special reason for the display. He would like a simple salute to Griffin’s father, Robert Griffin II.

Goscha returned in January from a 15-month tour in Iraq and, well, let’s him tell the story in his words.

“During the deployment, my wife sought help with our son, Isaac, who was 12 years old at the time. He plays a lot of baseball on various travelling teams here in central Texas but has had a hard time improving his speed (he stomps when he runs).

“So while I was a half-a-world away, my wife became the stuckee for making sure my son kept up with his athletic training (as well as home-schooling our other two daughters). She sought the help of a retired soldier, coach Robert Griffin Jr., who trains young people in Copperas Cove, Texas, for a competitive track team.

“Coach Griffin not only took in my son and pushed him in speed training, but offered to work with one of my other daughters, Zoe, who was eight years old at the time.

“When I could not take care of my own kids, coach Griffin extended me a helping hand. For that random act of kindness, I am eternally grateful. It isn’t surprising, though. Soldiers always help out each other. Coach Griffin has the reputation of helping out any young athlete that comes to him for help.”

Gosch says he knows the gesture to Griffin’s son only indirectly says “thank you” to Griffin, “but it shows him that he has already left a legacy to his son, a legacy of kindness and of helping others out when they are down. In a way, that legacy may be as important, if not more important, than leaving any amount of money to heirs. A good name is a great thing to pass on.”

So there you have it, Sooners. Your mission on Saturday is two-fold:

1. Tackle Robert Griffin.

2. Help him up.

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.