The Big 12 Conference has had a team play for the national championship three times in the last four years and five times since 2000.

One of the reasons has been scheduling. Whether it be Oklahoma in 2000, 2003 and 2004, Nebraska in 2001 or Texas in 2005, one of those teams was able put itself in the national consciousness early and stay there.

OU, which starts the season ranked No. 8 in the Associated Press Preseason Top 25, has a chance to do that again with the opponents it faces this season.

The non-conference schedule offers a blend of national intrigue and early season tuneups.

The Big 12 slate brings the same difficulty, but brings most of the heavyweights to Owen Field.

The Sooners open the season Sept. 1 against North Texas at Owen Field. Another meeting with the Mean Green doesn’t cause blood to boil. OU is 6-0 against the Denton, Texas, school.

It’s the following week national attention will focus on Norman. Miami comes to Owen Field for the first time since 1985 and the two teams will meet for the first time since playing for the national title in the 1988 Orange Bowl.

Sooner fans have been buzzing about the game since the contract was signed a couple years ago.

A lot of schools have been trying lessen the degree of schedule difficulty in recent years. But the meeting with the Hurricanes keeps up a five-year trend of OU playing a non-conference heavyweight.

“There isn’t as much incentive to play a hard non-conference schedule these days because in the polls there is more weight to being undefeated,” OU coach Bob Stoops said.

But there is some incentive. Much like the games against Alabama in 2002 and 2003, Oregon in 2004 and 2006, there will be a buzz around Owen Field Sept. 8.

“The exposure is great because everyone will be talking about it. Like our Miami game, it will have full national coverage,” Stoops said. “They are exciting. We feel if you are a top-10 team then you play top-10 opponents.”

Miami isn’t ranked in the Top 25 and the Sooners could very well be into the Big 12 slate before they meet a ranked foe.

Utah State comes to Owen Field Sept. 15 to end a run of three straight home games to start the season.

One of the most intriguing games on the schedule is the first road game. OU plays at Tulsa for the first time since Sept. 21, 2002. The game is also on a Friday night.

All four games are certainly winnable. But OU will be trying to go unblemished in the non-conference schedule for the first time since 2004. And going 4-0 should put the Sooners in national championship contention.

The Big 12 portion should be enough to keep the Sooners interested.

After the conference opener at Colorado Sept. 29, OU faces the preseason conference favorites on successive weeks.

The annual Cotton Bowl showdown with Texas is Oct. 6. The winner will assume control of the southern division and jump into the national title hunt.

Missouri, the preseason choice to win the north, comes to Owen Field Oct. 13. It’s the only home game the Sooners have against a north foe. They travel to Iowa State Oct. 20.

The regular season concludes with three home games in four weeks.

Texas A&M; comes to Owen Field Nov. 3 and Baylor follows Nov. 10. The road schedule concludes Nov. 17 against Texas Tech. It will be OU’s first trip to Lubbock since its highly-disputed loss in 2005.

Bedlam, which has become a Thanksgiving Weekend staple, is Nov. 25. The game could very well be for the Big 12 South title. The Sooners have entered the final week of the regular season with a shot at the division title in six of the last seven seasons.

The Big 12 championship game is Dec. 1 at the Alamodome in San Antonio. The conference’s champ is guaranteed a berth in the Fiesta Bowl Jan. 2 in Glendale, Ariz. And if everything goes really well, the Bowl Championship Series National Championship Game is Jan. 8 at the Superdome in New Orleans.

“It is a challenge,” Stoops said. “We have got good schedules and exciting games coming.”

John Shinn

366-3536

jshinn@normantranscript.com