NORMAN — By John Shinn
Transcript Sports Writer
There’s some who believe Oklahoma has nothing to win and everything to lose when it faces Connecticut in the Fiesta Bowl Jan. 1.
After all, the Huskies (8-4) did not finish in the top 25 in the final BCS standings before the bowl bids were announced. The oddsmakers have reacted by making the Sooners a 17-point favorite. Think that’s big? It’s the largest point spread since the BCS bowl alliance began in 1998.
Yet, OU doesn’t understand where the perception comes from that it has nothing to gain when it takes the field at University of Phoenix Stadium in Glendale, Ariz., New Year’s night.
“I would definitely like to get a BCS win, speaking on behalf of the whole team,” safety Jonathan Nelson said. “Especially for the seniors and the guys who have been here for a while. Hopefully, we can come up with a win against Connecticut and get that monkey off our back.”
That BCS monkey is as much the Sooners’ opponent as Connecticut. The Sooners haven’t won a BCS bowl game since Jan. 1, 2003. During that span, they’ve lost three times in the BCS national championship game and twice in the Fiesta Bowl.
Those losses (to Boise State to end the 2006 season and to West Virginia to conclude 2007) are some of the most bitter in Sooner history. Those were games OU was favored to win. But it hardly played like the favorite.
The handful of seniors OU still has around from those two previous Fiesta Bowls would rather forget both.
“Honestly, none,” offensive tackle Eric Mensik said when asked if he had any good memories from those previous trips.
“Anytime you lose you don’t like any of it.” OU coach Bob Stoops said.
Those BCS losses have made December a tough month for the Sooners. Once the bowl pairings are announced, most talk of OU surrounds that BCS losing streak. There’s no worse feeling than being the punch line when pundits start analyzing bowl games.
“Going into it, we ought to be mad. We ought to be embarrassed. We’ll get made fun of,” said defensive coordinator Brent Venables, who was part of all those BCS losses. “No one will talk about the great job Coach Stoops has done, winning seven Big 12 championships in 12 years, or talking about the great job because it’s our eighth BCS appearance.”
“We ought to take things to heart and put those ghosts to bed,” Venables added. “We deserve all the criticism. It’s justified. We haven’t played too well in these games.”
The Sooners leave for Arizona Sunday. Then, they’ll have six days to prepare for an opponent many believe they should overwhelm. But Connecticut isn’t OU’s only foe in the Fiesta Bowl. Its history of BCS bowl failures is something it will have to battle until it figures out a way to beat it.
It is a foe coaches have been pointing out and propping up the last month.
“They don’t have to do too much reinforcing, “ Nelson said. “For one, a lot of us were there. Secondly, most guys understand and know about the history of us in this game. We can’t just stroll in thinking we’re this or that. Every time that we do that, we play terribly. We have to realize that this is a big game and, hopefully, we come out with a win.”
John Shinn
366-3536
jshinn@normantranscript.com
