Sooners Have No Need to Apologize

In the biggest party city in the country, Oklahoma is trying not to feel like an uninvited guest.

Earlier this month, Sooner historians were discussing where this Sooner team ranked with the storied clubs of Bud Wilkinson and Barry Switzer. But all that changed in Kansas City, where the Sooners were humbled by Kansas State, 35-7, in the Big 12 Conference title game.

The Sooners, however, had built up plenty of BCS capital and still qualified for Sunday's Sugar Bowl against fast-closing Louisiana State. But do the Sooners really deserve to be there?

Sooner Sugar Bowl Central

Of course they do. But they had better take care of business this weekend or they will be college football's 2003 version of the Minnesota Vikings.

Since the Sooners got off the plane on Saturday, they have been routinely asked whether they "deserved" to be in the Sugar Bowl. Sooners coach Bob Stoops, among others, is not making excuses.

"No one gave us the No. 1 ranking in the BCS," Stoops said. "We earned it. The formula is what it is."

What the Sooners are battling is an incredible case of poor timing. Had Oklahoma lost to Kansas State back in September or October, the poor effort in Kansas City would have been forgotten.

Top-ranked Southern California was the odd man out in the BCS game of musical chairs, and there is no question that the Trojans are now playing as good as any team in the country. But USC did lose a game, and it was to an unranked opponent in California that ended up losing six times this season.

Oklahoma also lost, but it came to a red-hot Kansas State team that moved into the top 10 in the polls after the victory. Like it or not, but the Bowl Championship Series does not consider when a game is played. The Big 12 Conference title game is not a national title elimination game - at least not for now.

"We went 12-0 the first 12 weeks of the season in pretty dominating fashion," Sooners defensive lineman Dusty Dvoracek said. "I definitely don't think we lucked our way into it. I feel we deserve to play in the game."

For two weeks leading up to the Big 12 title game, BCS computer nerds claimed that the Sooners would be headed to New Orleans regardless of the outcome. The Sooners said all the right things about not taking the Wildcats lightly, but human nature is human nature, especially with college kids.

"I would never use that as an excuse, but it didn't help," Stoops said. "That would be taking away from what Kansas State did."

Should the Sooners be penalized for losing a game that they didn't have to win?

Maybe not, but they did not just lose, they were humbled. The college football world would not be in as much of an uproar if the Sooners were edged on a last-minute field goal. Even so, the comparisons to Nebraska's back door entrance to the Rose Bowl national title game two years ago is unfair.

The Cornhuskers did not even make it to the Big 12 title game. They were routed by Colorado in their regular season finale and already had two losses before it went to Pasadena.

Oklahoma's only defeat was in December, even if it did lose plenty of style points.

"We won 12 games and now we're not ready to play anyone," Stoops said sarcastically.

The lopsided loss also has called Oklahoma's schedule into question. A win over Alabama was dismissed since the Crimson Tide program was down and the same excuse was made for triumphs over Texas A&M and Colorado. That should not matter since the Sooners beat Texas by 52 points and Oklahoma State by 43.

Put USC's schedule under the same microscope and a similar pattern emerges. Non-conference wins over Auburn and Notre Dame no longer look so imposing. Just one USC opponent, No. 14 Washington State, currently sits in the latest coaches poll.

As for LSU, the Tigers are the life of the Sugar Bowl party, making a ticket to Sunday's game one of the hottest in state history. The Tigers made their case with a pair of wins over Georgia and another over Mississippi. But if the Tigers' flat performance in a home loss to Florida came in October and not in December, would the nation be as forgiving with a non-conference schedule that includes Louisiana-Monroe, Western Illinois and Louisiana Tech?

"The BCS has taken out (the consideration of) when the game is played," Stoops said. "That's not bad."

Like LSU fans scrambling for increasingly scarce tickets, there are not enough Sugar Bowl invitations to go around.

"There are three deserving teams, but only two can play in the Sugar Bowl," Tigers coach Nick Saban said.

Like it or not, the Sooners are one of those teams. And they have every right to prove that the side trip to Kansas City was merely a bump in the road.

University of Oklahoma Athletics

Related News

Related Videos

Sponsors