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Happy new year, sports fans.

No one needs a good ‘08 more than Oklahoma State football.

Watch my latest video commentary or read below:

How will we look back on the Oklahoma State Cowboys in 2007?

There’s one more game to come, of course. The Insight Bowl kicks off only a few hours before the new year rings in. A win against Indiana, and the Cowboys finish 7-6. A loss, and they finish 6-7. Either way, their record will be no better this season than it was a season ago. Could be worse, could be the same.

So, what does that say about the state of O-State? Have the Cowboys progressed or regressed? Have they moved forward or just treaded water this season?

Wins and losses won’t tell the whole story, though it will surely be a black mark against the current regime if this squad finishes with a losing record. In a year that the Cowboys were expected to be a dark horse to contend not only in the Big 12 but also in the country, a losing season isn’t acceptable.

But even if the Cowboys finish with a winning record, the best they can say is that they treaded water this season.

The same problems that plagued this program a year ago continue to plague it. Inconsistent play is an issue the Cowboys just can’t seem to overcome. You just never knew what kind of performance to expect, and that is the sign of a programs still searching for solid footing.

Also, the defense remains a problem. First-year defensive coordinator Tim Beckman looks like an improvement over Vance Bedford, but the production on the field sure hasn’t improved much.

Then, there are the games that the Cowboys weren’t that competitive. A year ago, the only game you could say that about was Texas. By the time the fourth quarter rolled around, you knew OSU had no chance. This year, that happened much more often. Troy. Kansas. Oklahoma. Even the game at Georgia was pretty much over by the final frame.

So, no matter what the Cowboys’ final record says, 2007 was no better than 2006. Call it worse. Call it the same. But you can’t call it better.

Safe to say, if anyone needs a happy 2008, it’s the Cowboys.

This video speaks for itself.

Happy holidays!

Are we really talking about Eddie Sutton getting a coaching job in December?

You bet.

Watch my latest video commentary or read below:

Eddie Sutton could not have scripted a better scenario had he pulled out an Olympia typewriter and pounded it himself.

The Oklahoma State great is back in coaching. When he retired a couple years back, it wasn’t officially a forced retirement. Unofficially, though, everyone knew that it wasn’t what Sutton would’ve chosen on his own.

Thing is, he needed to spend some time away. He’d been drinking, and worse, then he’d been driving. Sutton had more important things to worry about than stopping Kevin Durant or scoring on Texas Tech.

But on Wednesday, Sutton returned. He is taking over the basketball team at the University of San Francisco, which to this point has been best known for being Bill Russell’s alma mater. Past that, it’s basketball history is sparse.

Now, Sutton takes over a struggling program. The team is 4-8, and coach Jessie Evans is taking what the school is terming a leave of absence.

San Francisco needs a coach for the short term.

Perfect for Eddie Sutton.

Sutton is on the hook for only the rest of the season. Now, he is saying it could be longer, but the only thing that is for certain is the next 10 weeks.

It is a test run for Sutton.

If he just wants to get to 800 wins, then he has that chance. But I suspect he wants more. He coached for five decades, and it’s difficult to just walk away from something you love as much as Eddie Sutton loves coach.

This is the perfect chance for him to see if he still wants to coach. If he doesn’t, he can just walk away at the end of the season. No harm, no foul. If he does still want to coach, Sutton will have an opportunity to see if he’s up to it. Does he still like going to practice? Traveling? Game planning? Does he still have it in him?

This will be an ideal test run for Sutton.

How the script plays out, no one knows. But for Sutton, it is off to a rousing start.

This is Christmas week, not April fools.

I’m beginning to think, though, that’s what college sports’ brass take us for — fools. 

Check out my latest video commentary or read below:

Stop me if you’ve heard this one.

A college sports bigwig tells us, “It’s all about the student-athletes.”

So, you know that joke?

Me, too, and I’m not falling for it anymore.

Perhaps you had a chance to see Sunday’s edition of The Oklahoman. It had all you needed to see the hypocrisy of, “It’s all about the student-athletes.”

My counterpart Berry Tramel had the gut-wrenching story of Mike Reed. A year ago, the linebacker was the “it” football recruit at Oklahoma. He was a junior college superstar before signing with the Sooners.

Then, Reed seemed to disappear.

As Berry wrote, there was a good reason for that. Reed brought his family to Norman to live with him. A good and honorable thing. But when his wife got sick, Reed had to drop a few classes and became ineligible to play.

The family’s monthly income: $616.

The rent and electric bill cost about $630.

When the family sought help from the Society of St. Vincent de Paul, the Reeds were told by OU that they shouldn’t take the assistance because it might be in violation of NCAA rules.

Elsewhere in Sunday’s newspaper was a special section entitled “Money bowl.” It was our annual bowl preview section, and this year, we turned our attention to the money involved in bowl games.

Some numbers to chew on:

Fox Sports will pay about $80 million to broadcast BCS games.The Big 12 will rake in more than $35 million in bowl payouts.

Bob Stoops will receive a $100,000 bonus for making a BCS bowl.

All of that money is floating around college football, and yet, Mike Reed can’t get a little help in keeping the lights on?

Perhaps athletes should be paid. Perhaps they shouldn’t. Perhaps there should be means by which special cases can get assistance. Perhaps not. Listen, I’m not sure what the right answer is, but I can tell you that the system as it is is wrong.

The conferences, the schools and the coaches keep getting richer and richer, but then you have an athlete like Mike Reed being told that he can’t take a few hundred bucks a month to buy food for his family.

College sports bigwigs should be ashamed of themselves.

“It’s all about the student-athletes”?

We’ve heard it before, and now, no one’s laughing.

Got to thinking about the New England Patriots and their assault on perfection the other day.

Which, of course, got me thinking about college football.

Eh?

Watch my latest video commentary or read here:

The New England Patriots are on the verge of something historic — an undefeated season.

Only the Dolphins and the Giants stand between them and perfection. The Patriots would join the ‘72 Dolphins as the only other team to finish the regular season undefeated. New England, of course, would have to run the table in the playoffs to match those Dolphins’ undefeated Super Bowl title.

Even with games left to win, the Patriots have already been heaped with praise. Teams that make it this far into the NFL season without a loss are celebrated and cheered and even ballyhooed.

Which brings us to college football.

Isn’t it ironic that perfection in the NFL is a rarity while perfection in the college game is a necessity?

Oh, sure, a team doesn’t have to go undefeated in the regular season if it hopes to play for a title. Look at this year’s championship game match-up. Ohio State has one loss, and LSU has two.

With regards to non-BCS conference schools — this means you, Boise State and Hawaii — the fool-proof way to play for a title is to go undefeated.

Think about that. Perfection is the rule in college but the exception in the pros.

I know that the parity in the NFL is more extreme than anything college football will ever have. Even with the upsets we saw this season, college football still has its share of cupcakes. The NFL has no such sweet treats.

Just ask the Ravens about that. A couple weeks ago, they were on the verge of knocking off the undefeated Patriots. Fast forward to last Sunday when the Ravens lost to the winless Dolphins.

The margin for error is so slim in the NFL, and yet, all these guys do is play football. They eat it, drink it, sleep it, live it year round.

But it is the college players who are expected to produce undefeated seasons. These are college players who have to go to class and write papers and take tests in addition to playing football.

Is it any wonder so few college teams go undefeated?

And yet, that is the hope on which the BCS is built on — that there will be at least two undefeated teams to play for the title. The BCS hopes that will happen, hopes like crazy that it will. Otherwise, you see the madness of a season like this.

So, the next time you think about what’s wrong with the BCS, think about the New England Patriots. We celebrate perfection from them but expect it from a bunch of college guys.

That is a system that sounds anything but perfect.

Early this morning, I received an e-mail from Chris Wall.

Perhaps you read the Sunday story about his book honoring Justin Sullivan, the Yukon High School baseball player who died tragically five years ago. The minister at Council Road Baptist Church sent along some good news Wednesday morning about the sales of “A Life Worth Following”:

The response to Sunday has been almost overwhelming. I could never have imagined this kind of response. I am about to run out of books and am hoping that the next shipment gets here soon. Thanks so much.

Oklahoma’s opponent in the Fiesta Bowl lost its coach over the weekend.

Why did Rich Rodriguez bolt from West Virginia?

Watch my latest video commentary or read here:

It’s hard to blame Rich Rodriguez for leaving West Virginia for Michigan.

No doubt you heard the news over the weekend that Oklahoma’s opponent for the Fiesta Bowl is without a coach and Les Miles is official off the hook. Rodriguez has decided to become the next coach of the Wolverines.

In doing so, he leaves a program that lately has been better than the one he’s going to. The Mountaineers played in a BCS bowl two years ago and are back for another this year. The Wolverines have slipped a bit from such lofty pedestals.

Rodriguez is also leaving his alma mater. When he gathered his players over the weekend to tell them he was leaving, the emotions overflowed.

But at the end of the day, Rodriguez had to go.

Why?

The reason: even though there are more and more programs that can derail a contender’s national title hopes, there are still few programs that can actually win a championship.

These past few months, parity fueled one of the wackiest, wildest college football seasons ever. And yet, look who’s playing for the title.

LSU and Ohio State.

Could there be two more traditional, more storied powerhouses?

Granted, the likes of Kansas and Illinois and West Virginia are playing in BCS bowls, too, but they aren’t playing for the title.

More than ever before, there are teams who can compete with the big boys. I’d guess there are 40 or 50 teams in college football that you could line up against LSU or Ohio State and think they’d have a pretty good shot at winning. The talent would be comparable. Ditto for the coaching and the facilities.

But competing with a team like LSU or Ohio State is entirely different than becoming a team like them. Look at the title game match-ups over the past few years. Ohio State-Florida. Texas-USC. Oklahoma-USC. OU-LSU. Ohio State-Miami.

Despite increasing parity, very few programs are still in a position to actually play for a title year in a year out. That number is sure to grow, but it isn’t there yet.

Rich Rodriguez knows as much. That’s why he left West Virginia for Michigan. That’s why he left a place he loves for a place he can play for a title.

Looks like Larry Fedora is going to be the new head coach at Southern Miss.

But it took some finagling. The reason might have something to do with Les Miles. Watch my latest video commentary about it or read here:

I know this is going to be difficult to stomach, Oklahoma State fans, but Les Miles did you right.

And no, I don’t mean his exit from Stillwater. The way he left Payne County was disappointing but typical of coaches these days. When a new job comes around, they often say they’re doing one thing, then do another.

That’s a soapbox for another day.

Despite all that, Miles left a legacy in one area that served the Cowboys well then and continues even today. He did right by his assistant coaches.

When OSU first hired Miles, he decided to divide nearly half of his $700,000 salary among his assistants. Then, a couple years later, he convinced university brass that his assistants needed guaranteed contracts, something practically unheard of.

The reason: slow down the revolving door of coaches.

Something had to change. Before Miles took over at OSU, 14 assistants had left in five years. That’s a recipe for disaster. Players, after all, thrive with routine. It’s difficult to establish that consistency when coaches and systems and styles are changing all the time.

The plan worked then, and it’s working still.

It carried over at OSU even after Miles left, and it’s working so well that Larry Fedora might just forgo a chance to be a head coach because of it. The OSU offensive coordinator is the leading candidate at Southern Miss. The deal hasn’t been finalized, though, because Fedora wants more money for his assistants. If Southern Miss doesn’t go along with his wishes, he might just walk out on the deal.

Southern Miss isn’t exactly seen by assistants as a place to go and put down roots. Then again, neither was Oklahoma State before Miles decided to start paying them better. Now, when assistants leave Stillwater, it’s to become head coaches or because their services are no longer needed.

The revolving door will never stop turning entirely. Paying assistants more isn’t the only variable in achieving long-term success, but it certainly doesn’t hurt.

Enjoyed a fun exchange between Oklahoma defensive standouts Curtis Lofton and Auston English on Friday.

I wrote about it in my Saturday column, specifically about how these two knew about West Virginia’s offensive prowess long before the Sooners and Mountaineers became Fiesta Bowl opponents. But one of the other interesting tidbits from these two big-time gamers — big-time video game gamers, that is — was the fact that the Sooners aren’t very good on NCAA Football ‘08.

“There’s some times I get OU and play myself,” Lofton said.

“We never get OU,” English countered.

“I do sometimes,” Lofton said.

“Not when we play.”

So, what’s the problem with the video-game version of this year’s Sooners?

“It’s the quarterback,” Lofton said. “They’ve got him so slow, and he doesn’t throw the ball too well in the game.”

Considering the game came out in July, a month before the Sooners named Sam Bradford the starter, Joey Halzle is actually the starter on the game. And hey, it wasn’t like the video game makers had any idea of what to expect from any of the Sooner signal callers before the season started.

Next year, the makers will go with Bradford, and considering the way he’s played this year, his video-game self should be pretty stout, too.

“Next year,” Lofton said, “that’s definitely my team.”

English won’t be picking the Sooners unless something else changes next year, too.

“I don’t pick OU because I’m not on the game,” the first-team all-Big 12 defensive end said in mock disgust. “It’s real disappointing. Somebody’s got to talk to somebody about that.”

Celebrate the season.

The college football season, that is.

Watch my latest video commentary or read below:

I thought long and hard about today’s subject. I considered the BCS mess. I figured I could talk about the screwy computers or the whacked-out voters, the travesty of the system or the need for a playoff.

But in the end, I decided against it.

Enough with the downers, at least for now. This has been a college football season worth celebrating, so let’s celebrate.

Three cheers for the underdogs. For Appalachian State, which set the tone for this wacky, wild season by beating Michigan in Ann Arbor. For Stanford, which beat USC despite being a gazillion-point underdog. For Pitt and Arkansas and every other team that threw a wrench into championship plans.

And what about the out-of-nowhere teams that made it into the national championship hunt at one point or other?

There were teams like Boston College and Arizona State. These are programs that have won a few games over the years, but really, who thought they’d be in the chase for the championship?

Then, there were teams like Kansas and Missouri and South Florida. You’d be more likely to see those three teams at the top of the basketball polls. Instead, they became powers in the football polls.

Go figure.

Then there were the players. Darren McFadden did a little bit of everything. Tim Tebow rewrote the record books. Glenn Dorsey dominated on defense.

The locals were pretty darn good, too. We marveled at Malcolm Kelly’s hands and Dantrell Savage’s toughness. We wondered how it was that Curtis Lofton always made big plays and Brandon Pettigrew always seemed to score a touchdown every time he caught the ball.

But, of course, the greatest thing about this college football season is the thing that’s great about every college football season.

The games.

Who could forget LSU going for it on fourth down five times against Florida and making it every time? What about woeful Pitt going to West Virginia, beating the Mountaineers and ending their national title hopes? Arizona knocked out Dennis Dixon, then knocked out Oregon. Hawaii beat Boise State and touched off a wild celebration.

Every week there’s been something else to cheer, something else to celebrate.

So, why not look on the bright side? Sure, college football has its foibles and its flaws, but hasn’t there been enough moaning and groaning already?

At least for today, I’m going to see the positives.

Tomorrow? Who knows?