Clay Horning
• Sooners find themselves back in national-title hunt
Bob Stoops clearly wasn’t happy upon entering the Big Red Room Saturday night. Oklahoma had just beaten Missouri 41-31 but he wasn’t taking solace in much beyond victory.
No. 1 LSU had lost earlier in the day and that much he knew. But a lot of good that would do OU if it keeps turning the ball over, can’t execute a simple PAT from the place to the kick to standing still until the snap.
He did not, however, know that Oregon State had topped No. 2 Cal.
“Holy cow,” Stoops said.
He said it was nothing he’ll even speak to his team about. The Sooners have their own problems. But still … “Holy cow.”
Apparently, that giant sucking sound is all the conventional wisdom heading into the 2007 college football season.
USC has lost. LSU has lost. All but one in the Big 10 has lost. Everybody in the Big 12 South has lost. Boston College, South Florida, Kansas and Hawaii have not lost.
Two weeks ago, the Sooners watched their national-title dreams fly away. A week ago, they remained on the outside, yet looking in. Now, they’re back in the middle of the debate, even if it’s a crowded place.
Take a look.
Start with the one-loss teams like OU that might still have a shot.
• LSU has to be at the top of the heap. Losing to a Kentucky team in Lexington that has spent time in the top 10 can’t be unforgivable. Still to play, the Tigers host Auburn, visit Alabama, host Louisiana Tech, travel to Mississippi and host Arkansas. They could well make it to the SEC championship game, perhaps against Florida.
• USC might have a chance to come back, but after struggling to beat Arizona, the Trojans will be likely underdogs at Oregon and Cal.
• Missouri remains in position to make its own destiny. What would a rematch victory at the Big 12 title game do for the Tigers?
Still, should OU win out, LSU looks to be the only team that remains in front.
Now, take a look at the unbeatens.
• OU winning out means Kansas doesn’t.
• Who’s going to beat Ohio State? Michigan State, Penn State, Wisconsin, Illinois and Michigan still can.
• Boston College’s road is not impossible. If the Eagles can get past Virginia Tech next, only Florida State, Clemson and Miami remain.
• South Florida will have to earn its way, with one-loss Connecticut, two-loss Rutgers, one-loss Cincinnati, Syracuse, Louisville (Cincinnati’s one loss) and Pitt still to play.
• Hawaii can remain perfect and still not be in the way.
The Sooners have their own issues.
“If things work out, they work out, but we’ve just got to …” began quarterback Sam Bradford, turning the question back on the Sooners themselves.
“We’ve got to focus on us,” running back Chris Brown said.
Still, the light at the end of the tunnel is only getting brighter.
“The way the season’s been going, everybody’s getting beat,” Sooner receiver Juaquin Iglesias said. “But coach just told us, everything’s still in front of us.”
It would seem so.
