Bedlam set but two questions remain with OU schedule
Friday, the Big 12 announced that Oklahoma and Oklahoma State will play Dec. 3, a move most of us saw coming. Big 12 commissioner Dan Beebe has said the league needed a marquee game to fill the void of no conference championship game, and with OU-Texas cemented at the October Texas State Fair, Bedlam was the second best option.
That date should be good for both schools. It will give the Sooners the chance to make a statement to BCS voters right before the final BCS Standings come out.
And it will give OSU wideout Justin Blackmon and quarterback Brandon Weeden and OU wideout Ryan Broyles and quarterback Landry Jones a huge stage to impress Heisman voters should any of the four be in the race at the end of the season.
But two significant questions still remain with the Sooner conference schedule, that will have a bearing on the season.
Will OU play a league game the week before Florida State? And Will OU play on Thanksgiving Weekend?
At the moment, the Sooners have an open date Sept. 10, the week before they travel to Tallahassee for what figures to be a clash between Top 10 teams.
An advantage to not playing the prior week would give OU an extra week of preparation for the Seminoles, who have already indicated they’ve been pointing to the OU game for some while.
But, there’s advantage in also staying crisp by playing the weekend before. The risk here, though, is what if the Big 12 schedules Missouri or Texas A&M or Texas Tech the week before Florida State. Not only does an extra week of prep go out the window, but the Sooners would have the unenviable task of having to play back-to-back tough games. Missouri and A&M have to come to Norman, but don’t forget, both teams defeated the Sooners last season. OU should be favored by double digits in both cases. But the Sooners can’t afford to look past either of those teams, either.
If OU plays a Thanksgiving game, we can rule out the entire Big 12 South as possibilities. Baylor and Tech are playing in Arlington that weekend. Texas-Texas A&M will play Thanksgiving day night. And the Sooners will play OSU the following weekend.
That leaves, Kansas, Kansas State, Missouri and Iowa State as the only possibilities.
OU-Missouri would be the most attractive matchup, both for Sooner fans and for TV. But KU and Missouri might prefer to keep their annual rivalry game on Thanksgiving Saturday.
Also, in the first version of the Big 12 standings, K-State and Iowa State are actually scheduled to play one another Thanksgiving Saturday, something I can see being attractive for both schools, with their primary football rival, Nebraska, now gone.
What does all this mean?
The chances of OU playing Thanksgiving Weekend this year are not great.
-JT
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Comments
What does all this mean? It means OU should leave the Big XII as soon as possible. The SOONER the BETTER is what I say. This Beebe boob has let this conference slip into the abiss. The Big XII has one game, of interest, the OU vs. Cotton Bowl event in Dallas during the fair. Please, Joe C, Bob S., D. Boren and Barry S. Wake up to the reality the BIG XII is toast. Done finished. Pack your Trophys and Championships and go WEST young men. We have known for some time the Sooners are the superior and premier Team of the Big XII in football. Bye Bye Beebe! We’re gone! Jambo
Can someone tell the powers that be down in Norman that asking for money for season tickets BEFORE the season’s schedule is announced is ridiculous?
Thanks.
Nice fantasy rant Jambo but the TV folks and everybody else who matters know dang good and well that the Horns are the top dog by a long, long margin. Already have their own TV deal and when they say jump, Joe C. and Bobby and the rest say how high. OU will go where UT goes, IF Texas lets ‘em. Here’s one fan that would bet my season tix that Texas dictates the deal and the deal will be a new conference with Texas, aTm, Tech, OU, OSU, Houston, TCU, and a half dozed more schools to the west. Ain’t no way anybody but Texas busts into the SEC and they won’t be able to shake loose of aTm and OU.
I’m balling my eye’s out for poor OU. Stoops gets $4.5 Mill a year to make sure his team is ready to play anybody, anywhere,
anytime. If he and his staff can’t handle that, go somewhere else. Enough with the sympathy articles. It’s tough everywhere.