SB Nation - Oklahoma Sooners

It's the fundamentals, stupid! Utes shoot themselves out of win over Sooners

JazzyUte — Sun, 13 Dec 2009 00:10:45 -0000

Basketball more than any sport relies on fundamentals. If you lack it, you're not going to win many games. That was on full display Saturday as the Utes wilted in overtime and lost to the Oklahoma Sooners 78-73.

Certainly they had the talent to win this game. They did, after all, lead 42-36 at the break and managed a comeback to tie and send it to overtime. Yet, when they needed points the most - whether it was to take control at the end of regulation or in overtime - they came up empty. Without question, much of this has to do with basketball intelligence, poor shot selection and even worse free throw shooting.

I won't even begin to discuss the missed free throws at the end of regulation. Okay, I'll touch on it because I believe that's where the game was lost. Granted, Utah overcame them and forced it beyond regulation, however, that was where they really could have taken control of the game and because of three missed free throws by Carlon Brown, they didn't.

What did cost them the most, though, was the shot selection in overtime. Utah failed to play like a team with the lead, even though they had it. Instead of slowing the tempo down after forcing a few Oklahoma turnovers, they pushed and pushed and then settled for terrible shots that ultimately did not fall. Luka Drca should not be taking a three when Utah is either up or tied with minutes left. They literally shot themselves out of the win tonight.

That is fundamentals and something the Utes have lacked a good portion of the season. To be good and to contend with the elite of the conference, they can't afford ill-advised shots, stupid turnovers or missed free throws. In short, they must shore up their fundamentals or this team is going to get killed more often than not.

Of course, I don't want to sound like I'm completely disappointed with this team. Utah battled a decent Oklahoma program and played well in stretches. Like I said, they have the talent to be really good. And maybe it's the inexperience that's creating a big bulk of the problems. But I can't help but look at the last ten games and see missed opportunities. There is no excuse for this team to be 5-5. At worst, they should probably be 7-3.

Hopefully these mistakes are corrected and by January this team is playing smarter. But right now, it is very difficult watching them struggle like they do.

3rd Annual Rock M Nation Bowl Pick 'Em Contest

The Beef — Sat, 12 Dec 2009 04:00:18 -0000

UPDATE: BUMPED BACK TO THE TOP OF THE PAGE.

That's right loyal readers...the Bowl Pick 'Em Contest is back for its third season.

It is simple to participate. Simply reply to this thread with your picks. You will need to pick both against the spread, as well as the over/under, so you will have two picks per game. The spreads are LOCKED, so a movement in the line will not be taken into account. The spreads are courtesy of bookmaker.com because...well...that's the one I could find (and unless otherwise noted) They also represent where the lines were when they opened, which was a week ago (had to wait for Army/Navy to be played to determine Eagle Bowl and Texas Bowl line)

Our winner from last year is FSUncensored, who went 39-27 to win by three games over The Cool Alonzo and myself. All time, MU 1839 (our first winner) holds the best two-year record at 18 games over .500 (74-56). Of the "couples" category, The Beef and Tailgate Queen came out 3 game ahead of Bill C and Bill C's wife last year, tying their annual battle at 1-1. Overall, the contest generated a won-loss record of 1066-1244 for a not so good percentage of .461. Over the two years, we currently sit at 1711-1879 for a winning percentage of .477. Yes...I've kept track.

Picks are due by noon on Saturday, December 19th (since the first games are later that evening). Picks are lined up after the jump.

As for prizes...1st prize will get you the Rock M Nation T-shirt of your choice, unless RPT (who somehow is the keeper of the purse strings around here) decides we want to pony up some additional swag.

Anyway, we had a good time with this last year with 35 participants (up from 20 the first year) and somehow I am thinking we are going to have a FEW more than that :-) Come one, come all (and that certainly includes non-Rock M regulars...anyone from SB Nation is welcome to participate)...make me work hard at this. If you were here last season and have changed names, just let me know and I will do my best to give you your two or three-season score when all is said and done as well.

New Mexico

Fresno State -10 1/2 vs. Wyoming

Over/Under - 55 1/2

St. Petersburg

Rutgers -2 vs. UCF

Over/Under - 44 1/2

New Orleans

Sothern Miss -3 1/2 vs. Mid Tenn St.

Over/Under - 59

Las Vegas

Oregon State - 1 1/2 vs. BYU

Over/Under - 60 1/2

Poinsetta

Cal -3 vs. Utah

Over/Under - 53 1/2

Hawaii

Nevada -14 vs. SMU

Over/Under - 73 1/2

Little Caesers

Ohio -2 vs. Marshall

Over/Under - 50

Meineke

Pitt -3 vs. UNC

Over/Under - 44 1/2

Emerald

USC -9 vs. BC

Over/Under - 45 1/2

Music City

Clemson -7 vs. Kentucky

Over/Under - 52 1/2

Independence

Georgia -7 vs. Texas A&M

Over/Under - 64

Eagle Bank (LSVC odds)

UCLA -4 vs. Temple

Over/Under - 46 1/2

Champs Sports

Miami (FL) -3 vs. Wisconsin

Over/Under - 56

Humanitarian

Bowling Green PK vs. Idaho

Over/Under - 68 1/2

Holiday

Arizona -1 vs. Nebraska

Over/Under - 41

Armed Forces

Houston -5 vs. Air Force

Over/Under - 61

Sun

Oklahoma -9 1/2 vs. Stanford

Over/Under - 56 1/2

Texas (LVSC odds)

Mizzou -6 vs. Navy

Over/Under - 54

Insight

Minnesota -3 vs. Iowa State

Over/Under - 48

Chick-Fil-A

Va Tech -4 1/2 vs. Tenn

Over/Under - 50 1/2

Outback

Auburn -8 vs. Northwestern

Over/Under - 54 1/2

Gator

West Virginia -2 1/2 vs. Florida St.

Over/Under - 60 1/2

Capital One

Penn State -3 vs. LSU

Over/Under - 44

Rose

Oregon -3 1/2 vs. Ohio State

Over/Under - 51 1/2

Sugar

Florida -10 vs. Cincy

Over/Under - 55 1/2

International

South Fla. -6 1/2 vs. No. Illinois

Over/Under - 50

PapaJohns

South Carolina -4 1/2 vs. UCONN

Over/Under - 53

Cotton

Ole Miss -3 vs. Okie State

Over/Under -  50 1/2

Liberty

Arkansas -7 1/2 vs. East Carolina

Over/Under - 63 1/2

Alamo

Texas Tech -7 vs. Michigan St.

Over/Under - 60 1/2

Fiesta

TCU -7 vs. Boise St

Over/Under - 54

Orange

Ga Tech -4 vs. Iowa

Over/Under - 51

GMAC

Central Mich -4 vs. Troy

Over/Under - 64

BCS Champ

Alabama -5 1/2 vs. Texas

Over/Under - 45

Friday Cartoons Talk Colt McCoy, Big 12 Championship And Heisman Moments

ccmachine — Sat, 12 Dec 2009 01:30:14 -0000

Runnin' Utes Face Another Big Test against Sooners

BrysonCutla — Sat, 12 Dec 2009 00:23:31 -0000

More photos » by Laura Rauch - AP

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Next Game

Oklahoma Sooners
@ Utah Utes

Saturday, Dec 12, 2009, 1:00 PM PST
Jon M. Huntsman Center

TV: Versus

Q&A With Crimson and Cream: Talking Oklahoma Hoops

posted by Jeremy Mauss about 2 hours ago

0 comments | 0 recs

Complete Coverage >

Utah's big win against Michigan Wednesday must be in the past if the Utes hope to continue their success. Utah (5-4) took apart the Michigan Wolverines (4-4) and hope to ride the momentum on Saturday. Oklahoma (6-3) has been hot of late, riding a four game winning streak into Salt Lake City.

The Sooners were ranked as high as #16 in the preseason. OU will be lead by Willie Warren who is averaging 18.6 points with 5 assists per game. There have been concerns that Warren isn't accepting the leadership role well. Complimenting Warren in the backcourt will be Tony Crocker who has improved much this season averaging 13.7 points and 7 rebounds per game.

For the Runnin' Utes they must continue

what they have been doing on the glass. Utah outrebounded Michigan 34-21. Rebounding and winning loose balls have been the struggle in this early season. Utah will be lead defensively by David Foster who is averaging about 4 blocks per game. On the offensive side it will be the energetic freshmen Marshall Henderson who had a career game against Michigan with 22 points.

This game looks to be a toss up as both teams are very athletic and well coached. This will be the Sooners second road game of the year and must match the intensity of Utah to be able to come away with the win. Utah has been highlighting this matchup for quite some time and it should be electric in Salt Lake City. The key for the Runnin' Utes will be to rebound, win the loose balls and control Willie Warren. Defensive minded Jace Tavita will receive the challenge.

Q&A With Crimson and Cream: Talking Oklahoma Hoops

Jeremy Mauss — Fri, 11 Dec 2009 22:00:19 -0000

The award winning series (or at least I think it is at least a good idea) is back for hoops season as we interview other SB Nation sites in a short five question Q&A. This first one is Oklahoma's Crimson and Cream Machine talking about Saturday's matchup with Utah.

1.What has been the reason for Oklahoma being so streaky of late as they are 3-3 in their last six games?

I think that the slow start can be attributed mostly to so many new guys taking the floor and not yet fully understanding the system or their roles on the team.

This team has three former McDonald's High School All-Americans in the starting five and I think that initially posed a problem. These guys were used to carrying the load for their teams and now they have to share it. Even as a sophomore Willie Warren has had to adjust to this because last year he was the compliment to Blake Griffin and now this year has to learn to allow Tommy Mason-Griffin and Tiny Gallon to be a compliment to him.

I think that in the last four games we've seen them get their legs underneath them, so to speak, and while the competition hasn't been great (Nicholl's St., Arkansas, Arizona, Centenary) is hasn't been all that bad either. This road trip to Utah will be a good gauge of their progress.

2. . Who are the key players that Utah must account for offensively?

Before Wednesday night's game I would have just said Willie Warren and Tiny Gallon but seeing how Tony Crocker dropped off 29 points in the first half I think that the Utes will need to be aware of where he is on the floor as well. Freshman Steven Pledger will come off the bench and is a pretty good shooter from just about anywhere on the floor.

3. What is with Willie Warren? He has NBA talent but had a DNP coaches decision against Nichols State, he is considered selfish, and needs a lot of shots to get his points.

Willie has struggled in taking the leadership role that the team needs from him. Last year the team belonged to the Griffin brothers and while he was a key component he wasn't the guy everyone looked to. Now he is and as I stated before he's had to learn to allow others to compliment him instead of trying to carry the team on his own. Like most pure scorers he does take a lot of shots and when he's on he's one of the best in the nation but its when he's off that he has to trust those around him to do what he can't.

The DNP was because of illness.

4. What are the teams expectations this year after losing Blake Griffin to the NBA?

I think that its a realistic expectation to see them finish around 4th in the conference. From there we'll see what they can accomplish in the dance.

5. Who wins and what will be the difference?

I think that this is a must win game for Oklahoma. They are on a four game winning streak and things are starting to come together for them. As previously stated this will be a measure of progress because the Sooners have been really bad on the road so far. I say that their athleticism and triple threat scoring options allows to keep the streak going.

Franks Coming Back Others Possibly Leaning Towards Staying

ccmachine — Thu, 10 Dec 2009 16:29:51 -0000

More photos » by Sue Ogrocki - AP

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Oklahoma's defense could be pretty salty again next year as key members of what has possibly been the best defense of the Stoops era are deciding to return for another season. Adrian Taylor announced he'd be returning next season and now Dominique Franks is the next to say he'll be returning to Norman to play ball in 2010.

"I'm not worried about it at all," Franks said. "I'm coming back."

"I'm done with it. I'm just focusing on this last game. That's all I'm worried about," Franks said. "I'm not worried about talking to anybody or being at that next level."

Keenan Clayton, Auston English, Brian Jackson and Ryan Reynolds are all gone due to graduation but only Clayton and Jackson were every down every game players. Reynolds and English missed time because of injury but in their place Austin Box and Frank Alexander performed very well. Both were key contributors to shutting out Oklahoma State on the final weekend of the season and both will be around next season as well.

In addition to Taylor and Franks linebacker Travis Lewis, defensive end Jeremy Beal and defensive tackle Gerald McCoy are among the top underclassmen who could be throwing their names in next spring's NFL draft. It's widely speculated that McCoy is gone and while there's been absolutely not official word from him I'd be surprised to see him in crimson and cream in 2010. Instead we'll be looking at Jamarkus McFarland who while not yet at the level of McCoy did show flashes of greatness this year as a true freshman.

It's been rumored that Jeremy Beal is leaning towards staying as well even though he's not talking. The only thing that he's said is that he's focused on Stanford and will address that once the bowl game is over. That doesn't give me a lot of confidence to be honest but until he gives us something solid to go with all we have is speculation.

"I'm thinking about Stanford and getting better every day at practice," said Beal, who was chosen to the All-Big 12 first team. "I'm not thinking about the NFL."

"We've still got one more game and I'll think about that after the Stanford game," he added.

Travis Lewis hasn't stated whether he's staying or going either but he's at least given us the criteria for his departure. Lewis wants to be a first round draft pick and says he won't leave Oklahoma early unless that is guaranteed.

"It'd have to be pretty high. I have high standards for myself and everybody wants to go in the first round to take care of your family for the rest of your life," Lewis said. "Whether it's this year, next year or the year after. I've got two more years to play. I think eventually I'll be there."

"It's all about me and patience-how patient I am staying here and bettering myself to get to that No. 1, that first round."

There will be plenty of new faces on next year's defense but the key to success is blending the new guys with veteran leadership. Marcus Trice is going to make a push at replacing Brian Jackson, Ronnell Lewis, Tom Wort and Austin Box are going to battle for the middle linebacker position and depending what others do, we may see more. The thing is, the more we see guys like Taylor, Franks, Lewis and Beal the more experience and leadership we'll see on the field to go along with young talent. In a nutshell the learning curve will be smaller and that's exactly what we're looking for.

Oklahoma cornerback Dominique Franks returning for senior season

Mocking Dan — Thu, 10 Dec 2009 03:30:31 -0000

More photos » by Sue Ogrocki - AP

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Taking a break from players entering talk, someone wants to come back for the 2010 college football season. That would be Oklahoma cornerback Dominique Franks.

Although Franks submitted an application to the NFL Draft Advisory Committie, Franks said he'd be back in Norman no matter what.

Franks was named second-team All-Big 12 this season after finishing with 42 tackles and two interceptions.

Fellow Sooners underclassmen defenders Travis Lewis and Jeremy Beal haven't made their professional aspirations known yet. Both submitted paperwork.

"It'd have to be pretty high. I have high standards for myself and everybody wants to go in the first round to take care of your family for the rest of your life," Lewis told reporters. "Whether it's this year, next year or the year after. I've got two more years to play. I think eventually I'll be there.

Catching Up With Former Sooner Greats

ccmachine — Wed, 09 Dec 2009 18:24:40 -0000

via www.formersoonergreats.com

Have you ever wondered what happened to guys like Granville Liggins, Thomas Lott, Marcus Dupree, George Cumby, Rickey Dixon and Keith Jackson? A new publication tracks down 85 former All American and All Conference football players.

The magazine also includes archive pictures of the featured players, as well as feature articles about the history of Oklahoma Memorial Stadium, the history of the OU Mascots, a tribute to Cecil Samara - OU's Greatest Fan, and other interesting information. If you are a Sooner fan, this magazine is a must for you. It also makes the perfect Christmas gift or stocking stuffer for any Sooner fan.

For more information or to order your copy check out, Former Sooner Greats Where Are They Now?

Week Fourteen BlogPoll Ballot Draft

T Kyle King — Tue, 08 Dec 2009 03:52:12 -0000

The time has come to cast my final regular-season BlogPoll ballot---or, at least, I think it has; I’m assuming we’re not submitting new top 25s after next weekend’s Army-Navy game---and here is what I came up with after starting with a blank piece of paper:

Rank	Team	Delta

1	Alabama
2	Cincinnati	2
3	Texas
4	Boise State	1
5	TCU	1
6	Florida	4
7	Oregon
8	Ohio State
9	Georgia Tech	1
10	Iowa	1
11	West Virginia	9
12	LSU	1
13	Arizona
14	Oregon State	2
15	Southern Cal
16	Virginia Tech	5
17	Stanford
18	Miami (Florida)	4
19	Pittsburgh	7
20	California	1
21	Oklahoma State	2
22	Brigham Young	1
23	Nebraska	1
24	Penn State	7
25	Wisconsin	1
Last week's ballot

Dropped Out: Houston (#18), Central Michigan (#25).

The Alabama Crimson Tide (13-0) are No. 1. Duh! Of the dozen Division I-A opponents beaten by Nick Saban’s squad, nine finished with winning records, including the sixth-ranked Florida Gators, the twelfth-ranked LSU Tigers, and the 16th-ranked Virginia Tech Hokies. The Tide’s only close calls came in rivalry games against teams who will be playing on New Year’s Eve or later.

In spite of their close call against the Pittsburgh Panthers in a game played in the snow featuring two botched extra point attempts, the Cincinnati Bearcats (12-0) captured the No. 2 spot on my ballot by virtue of seven regular-season wins over teams that finished above .500, among them the 11th-ranked West Virginia Mountaineers, the 14th-ranked Oregon St. Beavers, and 19th-ranked Pitt. Also, Cincy gets credit for having a logo reminiscent of Chick-fil-A's.

While I understand and respect C&F’s argument, I awarded the No. 3 ranking to the Texas Longhorns (13-0) because Mack Brown’s outfit went undefeated against a slate that included no Division I-AA schedule fodder and only four teams that posted losing ledgers. Wins over the No. 21 Oklahoma St. Cowboys and the No. 23 Nebraska Cornhuskers provided heft to the Big 12 standard-bearer’s resume.

I ranked the Boise St. Broncos (13-0) ahead of the TCU Horned Frogs (12-0) for a variety of reasons. Both took advantage of a Division I-AA victim and each faced five Division I-A teams with winning records, but Boise State has an additional win and Texas Christian has two close shaves (at Air Force and at Clemson) as opposed to the Broncos’ one (at Tulsa). Boise State’s second- and third-best wins (over Nevada and Fresno State) are comparable to the Frogs’ (over Utah and Clemson), but the Broncos’ marquee victory over the seven-ranked Oregon Ducks far outshines TCU’s best pelt, that of the 22nd-ranked BYU Cougars.

The Sunshine State Saurians (12-1) slipped to sixth after their less than competitive neutral site outing against ‘Bama, as befits the nation’s lone once-beaten team, and Oregon (10-2) led the parade of two-loss teams because the Ducks fell to two quality teams on the road and made up for those setbacks with wins over three teams ranked in my top 20 (Arizona, Oregon State, and Cal).

The Ohio St. Buckeyes (10-2) earned a No. 8 ranking on the strength of wins over the tenth-ranked Iowa Hawkeyes, the 24th-ranked Penn St. Nittany Lions, and the 25th-ranked Wisconsin Badgers. The Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets (11-2) rode their ~~fourth-place finish in the SEC East~~ ACC championship to the No. 9 ranking, although the Ramblin’ Wreck’s loss to the Georgia Bulldogs at home serves as a drag on a resume that includes five close calls in the Golden Tornado’s ten Division I-A wins. Only two of the Engineers’ victims finished with fewer than five losses, but one of those triumphs came over No. 16 VPI.

Iowa (10-2) carded quality victories over a trio of top 25 teams (Arizona, Penn State, and Wisconsin, all by double-digit margins) to overcome respectable losses to Ohio State and Northwestern, both of whom will be playing on New Year’s Day. (For whatever it might be worth, I would point out that the five BCS bowls pit No. 9 v. No. 10, No. 7 v. No. 8, No. 4 v. No. 5, No. 2 v. No. 6, and No. 1 v. No. 3 on my ballot. This ought to be a pretty good bowl season.)

West Virginia narrowly edged out Louisiana State in my estimation. Both teams boasted similar resumes: both finished 9-3; both won three games by a touchdown or less; both lost one game by a touchdown or less. However, as ashamed as I am to admit it, the Mountain Men’s win over Pitt counts for more this season than the Bayou Bengals’ win over Georgia. I know, it hurts me to admit that, too; visions of Tony Dorsett and Dan Marino will haunt my dreams tonight.

A glut of 8-4 clubs out of the Pac-10 proved difficult to untangle, but I declared the Arizona Wildcats first among equals by awarding Mike Stoops’s troops the No. 13 ranking. Three of Arizona’s four losses came on the road, two of them were nailbiters, and only one of them was the handiwork of a team with fewer than eight wins. The Wildcats carded victories over No. 14 Oregon State, the 15th-ranked USC Trojans, and the 17th-ranked Stanford Cardinal, with Central Michigan thrown in for good measure.

The Beavers landed right behind Arizona, partly because of wins over Cal and Stanford but mostly because of a quartet of quality losses. Oregon State’s four setbacks all came against opponents sporting eight or more wins, and, of the four, only the one against the No. 2 team in the country wasn’t a close call.

I will grant that it appears somewhat strange that I placed Stanford at No. 17, two spots behind Southern California (a club the Cardinal beat handily in Los Angeles) and three spots ahead of the California Golden Bears (a squad that defeated Jim Harbaugh’s outfit at the Farm), but Stanford had no legitimate third-best victory after the Cardinal’s wins over Oregon and USC to overcome the trio of triumphs notched by the Men of Troy over Ohio State, Oregon State, and Cal. Likewise, the Bears of Berkeley had trouble overcoming the fact that all four of their losses came by margins of 17 points or more. Oddly enough, Southern California, Stanford, and California each lost to a 5-7 team on the road, but the Trojans’ loss to the Washington Huskies and the Cardinal’s loss to the Wake Forest Demon Deacons at least had the virtue of being close.

Sandwiched amid those West Coast outfits were No. 16 Virginia Tech (9-3), which beat top 25 teams Miami and Nebraska while sustaining three respectable defeats (including two to top ten squads); the 18th-ranked Miami Hurricanes (9-3), who are able to boast of a marquee win over Georgia Tech; and 19th-ranked Pittsburgh (9-3), which sneaked ahead of California by virtue of a more forgivable set of losses. The Panthers’ three setbacks all came by close margins, with two of those coming in down-to-the-wire clashes with top eleven opponents Cincinnati and West Virginia. Pitt’s loss to N.C. State was comparable to Cal’s loss to Washington---both came on the road against 5-7 squads---but the Wolfpack won by seven and the Huskies won by 32.

The inclusion of Oklahoma State (9-3) attested to the fact that next year’s BlogPoll should rank only 20 teams instead of 25---which the Associated Press poll did prior to 1989, by the way---but somebody had to be No. 21, so the Pokes were as qualified as anyone. Why was Les Miles’s old team ranked nine spots behind Les Miles’s current team when both have identical records and both count a win over the ‘Dawgs among their most impressive conquests? Simple: LSU lost to three teams with a combined 33-5 record by a combined 62-41 margin, while OSU lost to three teams with a combined 30-8 record by a combined 113-49 margin.

BYU (10-2) had absolutely no business being ranked after getting positively smoked by TCU and the hapless Florida St. Seminoles, but Brigham Young beat the Oklahoma Sooners and the Utah Utes, which counts for something. Nebraska (9-4) did little to impress me in the win column---the ‘Huskers beat only two teams with winning records---but, since all of the Big Red Machine’s losses were to teams that finished .500 or better and three of those were by razor-thin margins, I gave Bo Pelini’s team the benefit of the doubt.

The fact that Penn State (10-2) and Wisconsin (9-3) made the grade proves that I was scraping the bottom of the barrel; both the Nittany Lions and the Badgers lost convincingly to the Big Ten’s two top ten teams and neither beat more than two Division I-A teams that finished above .500, but the dearth of quality squads at the bottom of my ballot allowed a PSU team whose best win was against Temple and a Wiscy unit whose best win was against Fresno State to sneak undeservedly into the top 25.

Consideration was also given to the Boston College Eagles and the Mississippi Rebels. I’d like to tell you that I took a look at the Central Michigan Chippewas, East Carolina Pirates, Houston Cougars, Missouri Tigers, Navy Midshipmen, North Carolina Tar Heels, Northwestern Wildcats, Rutgers Scarlet Knights, and Texas Tech Red Raiders, but, if I said so, I’d be lying.

I watched the Oregon-Oregon State game on Thursday, the Central Michigan-Ohio (Ohio) game on Friday, and a Saturday slate consisting primarily of the Cincinnati-Pittsburgh, Alabama-Florida, and Clemson-Georgia Tech games, with bits of the Nebraska-Texas and Hawaii-Wisconsin tilts sprinkled in for variety.

As always, I actively solicit your input with respect to what is, after all, a draft ballot. Feel free to register your disagreement or lobby for or against particular teams in the comments below.

Go ‘Dawgs!

TCU-Boise State Match-up Protects BCS Conferences

aramnath — Mon, 07 Dec 2009 18:11:56 -0000

More photos » by Donna McWilliam - AP

TCU had the No. 1 ranked defensive team in the country, but they won't even get a shot to beat a BCS-conference team in the Fiesta Bowl. (AP Photo/Donna McWilliam)

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Can anybody who's watched Texas this season say without a doubt in their mind that Texas is the 2nd best team in the country? They struggled to beat an Oklahoma team, that lost Sam Bradford during the game and was without super NFL prospect, tight end Jermaine Gresham the entire season. They also struggled to put away Texas Tech and Texas A&M. The lone outstanding win they had was a 41-14 clobbering No.14 Oklahoma State, who has yet to beat a team that finished in the Top 25 in the past two seasons.

Then came the Big 12 championship game against Nebraska and Ndamukong Suh. The Cornhuskers have one of the best defenses in the country, but Texas looked awful the entire game and were aided on their game-winning drive with 55 yards penalty yards. They still managed to nearly squander this opportunity by inexplicably running a play during which time expired before an instant replay put a second back on the clock allowing the Longhorns to kick their way into the BCS championship game.

Take a look at TCU's schedule and results on the other hand. They beat ACC runner-up Clemson on the road, a notoriously difficult place for road teams to win. They also beat a solid Air Force team on the road and schooled No. 15 ranked BYU, again on the road, by a score of 38-17. Their biggest win on the season was a 55-28 demolition of the No. 23 ranked Utah on national television.

I can't tell you for sure that TCU is better than Texas, but looking at each team's schedules, quality of opponents and margin of victory, the Horned Frogs' resume looks a bit better than Texas'. However the voters decided to once rewards the bigger team in Texas, not the biggest one.

Instead we will watch TCU and Boise State, who also finished undefeated, in the Fiesta Bowl and wonder if given the chance would those teams have been able to compete against Alabama in the naitonal championship game. It is also something to think if Big East champion Cincinnati deserved a spot in the championship game over Texas as well. Texas' ability to push an Alabama team that manhandled Florida in the SEC championship game is in doubt.

There are people trying to defend the decision to pit two non-BCS conference team in the FIest Bowl rather than match them up against teams like Georgia Tech, Iowa, Cincinnati or Florida. How else can we ever determine how good a team like TCU or Boise is? We will only be left to watch their match-up and then watch again next season while inflated conference perceptions cloud the reality of who the best teams really are.

Poll

SB Nation - Oklahoma Sooners

It's the fundamentals, stupid! Utes shoot themselves out of win over Sooners

3rd Annual Rock M Nation Bowl Pick 'Em Contest

Friday Cartoons Talk Colt McCoy, Big 12 Championship And Heisman Moments

Runnin' Utes Face Another Big Test against Sooners

Next Game

Q&A With Crimson and Cream: Talking Oklahoma Hoops

Q&A With Crimson and Cream: Talking Oklahoma Hoops

Franks Coming Back Others Possibly Leaning Towards Staying

Oklahoma cornerback Dominique Franks returning for senior season

Catching Up With Former Sooner Greats

Week Fourteen BlogPoll Ballot Draft

TCU-Boise State Match-up Protects BCS Conferences

Who should be facing Alabama in the national championship game?