John Shinn
Even after destroying Missouri 62-21 Saturday night in the Big 12 championship game, Oklahoma coach Bob Stoops admitted he still felt a little uneasy Sunday while watching the BCS selection show.
His team was ranked No. 2 heading into the weekend, but the only thing that was an absolute guarantee was it was going to play in a BCS bowl as the conference’s champion.
“Until you see everyone else go, you don’t take anything for granted,” he said.
Then he watched the slots for the Orange, Sugar, Rose and Fiesta Bowl fill up.
Only one game — the BCS national championship game — remained.
The Sooners (12-1) were ranked No. 1 in the final BCS rankings Sunday and will face No. 2 Florida (12-1) in the BCS championship game Jan. 8 in Miami.
“It’s a great opportunity,” Stoops said. “I love the way our team has played the last three or four weeks. We’ve really played the right way at the right time.”
The debate about whether OU or Texas should have represented the Big 12 south in the conference title game will likely never end. But to pollsters and computers, the Sooners erased just about all doubt with their performance at Arrowhead Stadium.
The coaches voted OU No. 1 in the coaches poll. It received 31 of a possible 61 first-place voted in the USA Today coaches poll. The Harris Interactive poll gave the Gators the brunt of its support. Florida was ranked No. 1 in it behind the strength of 90 first-place votes out of 113. The Sooners received the other 23.
The computer polls threw their support behind OU. It was No. 1 in all six computer polls.
Texas was third in both human polls and second with the computers.
Stoops faced a few more questions about the Sooner-Longhorn debate. But he gave his simple well-reasoned argument for his team.
“We all agreed to what the situation would be before the season started. If someone had a problem with it, whether it be media or another team, they should have raised the issue before we all started playing,” he said. “I’ll play by whatever they say. It doesn’t much matter.”
What mattered most was what happened down the stretch. The Sooners’ victory over the Tigers was their seventh straight since losing to the Longhorns Oct. 11. In that span, OU’s won every game by 14 or more points, scored at least 58 points in the last six and toppled three straight ranked teams — Texas Tech, Oklahoma State and Missouri — in incredibly convincing fashions.
“I’ve gotten to see Oklahoma play a few times this season and I respect their athletes and their coaches,” Florida coach Urban Meyer said. “We look forward to the challenge.”
The Gators (12-1) jumped to No. 2 in the final BCS rankings due to their 31-20 victory over previously unbeaten and top-ranked Alabama in Saturday’s SEC championship game.
It should be one of the most intriguing title game matchups ever.
Both Stoops (2000) and Meyer (2006) have won national championships in the BCS era. The winner will become the first coach to hoist the BCS’ national championship trophy twice.
There’s also the possibility of two Heisman Trophy winners playing quarterback. Florida’s Tim Tebow won the award last year. Oklahoma’s Sam Bradford is among a group of candidates — along with Tebow — up for the award this season.
There also are two offenses that averaged over 45 points a game this season.
The debate over which teams belonged in the BCS title game likely didn’t end Sunday night. Bu the humans and the computers came up with a pretty solid consensus.
They picked what’s expected to be a great game.
“It should be a terrific culmination of what’s been a very, very intriguing regular season,” BCS coordinator John Swofford said Sunday night.
John Shinn
366-3536
jshinn@normantranscript.com
