Big 12 Preview: Oklahoma, Contender

These guys are among the small handful of preseason favorites for the national championship. Easy call putting them in the Contender category today, no? We make no promises on their ability to deliver, given the whole hot stove human behavior thing whereby Oklahoma has lost big in so many different ways in bowl games lately we know better than to bet on crimson anytime after early December.

But there's always that victory over Texas to fall back on, right? Assuming they beat Texas this year, of course.

Why They'll Win

Talent. It's the lifeblood of all college football programs and Oklahoma's fairly deep with it. The guys the NFL loves are on the lines, but college football fans can appreciate great players with diminished NFL prospects like one Sam Bradford. This guy's just got the knack for making accurate throws, on time, and making the right reads. His freshman season is simply the best statistical freshman season ever.

Oklahoma will continue to do what it always does, play fast on defense, and find ways to get the ball down the field on the ground and in the air. Leading rusher Allen Patrick departs but the exciting DeMarco Murray has arrived and he will be pushed in a big way from frosh back Jermie Calhoun. The offensive line is also widely considered the nation's finest.

Why They'll Lose

There's no particular reason here, at least during the regular season. After a short burst from Texas, Oklahoma has regained conference supremacy the last year or two and probably this year as well.

Colorado played them tough and may have caught Oklahoma napping. The Texas Tech loss was a bit more revealing. The Red Raiders came in confident and buried Oklahoma early under an offensive blitz. They also knocked Bradford out of the game and his backup couldn't quite rally the team in time.

The schedule isn't particularly daunting, although Texas, Texas Tech and Kansas loom during a particular mid/late season stretch. Oklahoma could open up hot again and fall asleep somewhere without the fluffiest of pillows and realize too late they're about to lose. Other than that? Nah.

How To Beat Them

Upset special prepared three ways. If you follow the Colorado model, you play tough but otherwise lay in the weeds at home and then pounce while Oklahoma's still sleepy.

If you follow the Texas Tech model, you again play tough at home, but unload the offensive arsenal before the Sooners have drawn their first breath.

Or, you could just meet them in a bowl game, and if you have a legitimately good offense (USC, Virginia Tech, Boise State) slap them around into surrender.

That or stick a longhorn on your helmet, invite Oklahoma to the Texas state fairgrounds and see who comes out on top.

Prognosis

Very, very good. The Sooners only return five projected starters on defense but they have a ton of able bodies to step in there. The offense is loaded and although they lost big receiver Malcolm Kelly, could be better. The schedule's reasonable enough and in theory this program is sufficiently embarrassed after several bowl thrashings to take care of business in the regular season and like Ohio State, wait for redemption in January.

Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)

8-23-2008 @ 11:55AM

Soonerfan said...

I get so tired of the OU detractors. OU has a solid, deep team and I'll be surprised if they don't win the Big 12 championship again. And you need to get your facts straight. OU did not play and lose to Virginia Tech (it was West Virginia).

8-26-2008 @ 4:50PM

HUSKERDIVA said...

OU always has been and always will be a contender in the Big 12. They had a dry spell a few years back and, to be honest with you, it scared me. As a Husker fan, I look forward to seeing the Big 12 and OU do well every year. For years the Big 12 has be maligned and, frankly, I'm mad as hell and not going to take it anymore. The better our teams do, academically and athlecally (sp?), the stronger we all look. So I say....GO BIG 12!!!

8-28-2008 @ 3:05AM

cfb expert said...

the big 12 has been maligned because of the biased sec media outlets who dont state the truth. since they dont i will...

the sec top 6 against the big 12 top 6......bama 10-15-2, tenn 4-5-1, uga 4-7, lsu 39-37-5, auburn 5-12 and florida 1-6-1....big 12 top 6 against the sec top 6.....ou 5-3-1, texas 28-12-3, nebraska 15-4-1, colorado 2-9-1, texas am 27-33-3, and mizzou 5-2.......154 games played with 59 at sec venues, 56 bowl games, 38 at big 12 venues and 1 pigskin classic in california....the big 12 leads 82-63-9.

national titles...since 1936 83 teams have been awarded national titles (ap,upi,bcs)....here are the number of titles per conference....big 12 (18)... sec (16)... big 10 (15)...acc (10)...independents (10), pac 10 (9)...big east (3)...usa (1)...mwc (1).....of the 83 teams that have been awarded national titles since 1936 only 48 have PROVEN on the field with unbeaten,untied records to be the champion. here are the number per team of EARNED (not BEGGED for 1 or 2 loss jokes) titles.....ou 4 neb 4, notre dame 4, texas 3 alabama 3, southern cal 3, ohio st 3, miami 3, minnesota 2, michigan 2, army 2, lsu 1, uga 1, aub 1, tenn 1, texas am 1, clemson 1, fsu 1, byu 1, tcu 1, ucla 1, washington 1, pitt 1, syracuse 1, mich st 1, penn st 1.

here are the number of 1aa opponents for both the sec and big 12 since 1946 (modern era)....colorado 3, ou 4, texas 6, mizzou 8, texas tech 15, ok st 16, neb 16, baylor 16, kansas 19, texas am 21, k st 35, and iowa st 35..........sec.....lsu 7, uga 12, ark 15, florida 16, south carolina 25, bama 27, vandy 29, tenn 31, kentucky 36, ole miss 40, auburn 41, and miss st 45...pathetic. as these stats prove the sec teams run to the 1aa level 1st to pad their records and traditions, and 2nd because they lack the manhood it requires to line it up with the big boys.

top 10 all time programs (win%) games against each other....against the other top 9 programs ...ou 214, notre dame 183, mich 171, ohio st 162, texas 148, southern cal 147, neb 143, bama 138, tenn 115, and penn st 100. with the exception of penn st who joined the big 10 in the 1990s what these stats prove once again is the sec plays the least quality opponents.

ou has an ncaa record 47 game win streak, 31 game win streak (ranks 8th), 28 game win streak (70s), 20 game win streak this decade....here are the top win streaks for each top 6 sec program.....bama 28 (stallings), tenn 23, auburn 20 (terry bowden), lsu 19 (1950s), uga 17 (1940s), and florida 12 (1995) before nebraska exposed florida as a joke.

now what i have proven with the documented historical facts provided by the universities themselves is that the big 12 is far superior to the sec. i have proven this 4 different ways....head to head, earned (not BEGGED for) national titles, schedules, and win streaks. the sec isnt much just hype. with these documented historical facts its clear if a super 12 conference were to be formed with the top 6 sec cupcakes and the top 6 big 12 programs that the sec programs would be the cupcakes.

one last comment. the sec is such a joke that its easier for the citadel and appy st to get lsu on their schedules than ou. how pathetic that lsu lacks the manhood to play the big boys but thats the sec way. play cupcakes then when you get mashed BEG.

9-12-2008 @ 2:47AM

john said...

Thank you for clearing that up. I am soooooooo tired of the SEC hype. And the Pete Carrol legend. OU has to quit losing the big games though and Nebraska needs to get back to its rightful place. There would be one more tie for the Championship had the Huskers not decided to go for 2 points.
Thanks again. Go Big 8 (12). Go Sooners.