The Sooners the better

STILLWATER, Okla. – True to his word, Oklahoma football coach Bob Stoops didn’t spend any time “politicking” for a spot in the Big 12 title game following his team’s 61-41 victory at Oklahoma State on Saturday.

For the first time in weeks, he didn’t need to.

Oklahoma’s 20-point win over the Cowboys should be enough to catapult the Sooners ahead of Texas in this week’s BCS standings. That means Stoops’ squad should emerge from a three-way tie with the Longhorns and Texas Tech – all of whom are 11-1 – and represent the league’s South Division in the conference championship against Missouri.

If you’re a fan of the Longhorns – who defeated Oklahoma 45-35 on Oct. 11 – you have the right to be peeved.

But if you’re a Big 12 fan, if you truly want what’s best for the league, then you should be glad Oklahoma appears headed to Kansas City.

As good as Texas is, the Sooners are the team that gives the Big 12 its best chance at a national title. And you can bet they’ll get their chance after defeating a struggling Missouri squad next weekend at Arrowhead Stadium in Kansas City.

“Obviously, we’ll be disappointed if it doesn’t go our way [and we don’t get chosen],” quarterback Sam Bradford said. “If it doesn’t we’ll just look back and say, ‘We should’ve won that game in October.’ ”

Still, schools that perform the best late in the season are usually the ones that get rewarded when it comes to bowl selections and high positions in the polls, and arguably no team is playing as well as Oklahoma.

The Sooners have won six straight games since losing to Texas, and in those games they’ve scored 45, 58, 62, 66, 65 and 61 points. They’ve played a tougher nonconference schedule with wins over Big East champ Cincinnati and Texas Christian.

Even more impressive is that their 65-21 victory over Texas Tech on Nov. 22 came when the Red Raiders were undefeated and ranked No. 2. And remember, this was the same Tech team that defeated Texas.

Because he played against both schools, Oklahoma State kick returner Perrish Cox was asked to pick the better team between the Sooners and Longhorns.

“I would pick OU,” he said. “They’ve got more weapons. They move the ball around a lot. They have a lot of running backs. Sam Bradford is a good quarterback. They just keep making plays.”

Indeed, those who follow Oklahoma’s program closely are saying that this offense could be one of the best in school history. The Sooners have a solid one-two punch at running back in DeMarco Murray and Chris Brown, but their biggest strength is their passing game.

Juaquin Iglesias is regarded as one of the top receivers in the country while Ryan Broyles is one of the Big 12’s best freshmen. Jermaine Gresham, a future NFL tight end, had 158 receiving yards and two touchdowns Saturday. Linemen Duke Robinson and Phil Loadholt are both pro prospects.

It also helps that the person spearheading Oklahoma’s attack is arguably the top quarterback in the program’s storied history. If he wasn’t there already, Bradford likely jumped to the front of most voters’ Heisman ballots with a 371-yard, four-touchdown effort against Oklahoma State.

Bradford has thrown just six interceptions all season and, with him under center, the Sooners have turned 61 of their 71 red-zone trips into touchdowns.

That’s the kind of production that a team will need to beat Florida, who will likely end up in the national title game after defeating Alabama in the SEC championship.

Just like the Sooners after their loss to Texas, the Gators have made huge strides following their early season setback against Ole Miss. Texas would have a chance against Urban Meyer’s squad – but Oklahoma will have a better one.

Granted, both teams will have a tough time stopping the Gators’ offense and 2007 Heisman winner Tim Tebow. If Oklahoma and Texas have a weakness, it is clearly their defense. But it’s not as if the Sooners have been porous in that area as of late.

They surrendered just 21 points against a Texas Tech squad that features the nation’s top pass-catch duo in Graham Harrell and Michael Crabtree. A week later, on Saturday, the Sooners faced the Big 12’s best collection of skill players in Oklahoma State’s Cox, Kendall Hunter (tailback), Dez Bryant (receiver) and quarterback Zac Robinson.

Hunter rushed for 86 yards, Cox scored on 90-yard kickoff return and Bryant snared a pair of touchdown catches. Still, the Sooners’ bend-but-don’t-break defense came through with big plays when it mattered most.

After Oklahoma State pulled within 44-41 on Cox’s kickoff return, Oklahoma responded with a scoring drive that upped its lead to 51-41 with 7:07 remaining. The Sooners then thwarted any chance of an Oklahoma State comeback by forcing the Cowboys to go three-and-out on their next possession. The Sooners capitalized with a field goal and then forced Robinson to fumble after the Cowboys got the ball back.

Ballgame.

“All we can do now is hope,” Bradford said. “There’s no reason we shouldn’t be in Kansas City.”

Texas can probably think of one. In fact, Longhorns boosters footed the bill for a plane to fly above Boone Pickens Stadium on Saturday towing a banner that read “45-35: Settled On a Neutral Field.”

You can’t debate the Longhorns on that one. The fair solution, of course, would be to give them the nod to the Big 12 championship since they defeated Oklahoma head-to-head. But that’s not the way this screwy system works. So the Sooners, it should be.

I think.

Texas officials were sending out all sorts of emails late Saturday night in an effort to convince voters to keep the Longhorns ahead of Texas in the BCS standings. Texas Tech made similar efforts, although the Red Raiders are considered a longshot after getting blown out by Oklahoma (65-21) on Nov. 22 and barely squeaking by Baylor (35-28) on Saturday.

“The good thing,” Oklahoma State defensive back Andre Sexton said, “is that the Big 12 South is going to be represented well. I think we’ll have a team in the [national] championship game, and whichever team it is, they will be good.

“I’ll cheer for either one of them. Everyone should.”