Monthly Archives: November 2017

The Big 12 Championship Game…

I don’t want to rain on everyone’s parade, but this team has to win one more game to lock up its trip to a possible National Championship game. I say this because, I really do believe that this OU team could get er’ done this year.

Unfortunately, we must now play a conference championship game for no apparent reason. I know the conference has to help pay the bills for the bottom feeders in the league, but really…

Big 12 Commissioner Bob Bowlsby sold the game to Big 12 schools as a way to ensure that the Big 12 champion would make the playoffs. As you can see from the computer model below, OU should have wrapped up that feat Saturday night.

I know you are thinking why should Sooner fans be worried after we demolished TCU just three weeks ago. First, this what bloggers do, secondly, playing the same team three weeks apart is a recipe for disaster and thirdly, I have a really good memory.

I can remember all too well, another Big 12 Championship December night back in 2003. That was when a four-loss K-State team coached by Bill Snyder, Gary Patterson’s mentor derailed OU’s season and our quest for an eighth National Championship.

I think the Sooner Nation should petition the Big 12 office to end the Big 12 season right now.    That of course will not happen, but you catch my drift. After yesterday’s games the latest ESPN FiveThirtyEight computer model shows OU as a lock for the playoffs.

Chances of making the CFP playoffs after Saturday’s games.

  1. OU 68%
  2. Clemson 67%
  3. Auburn 52%
  4. Alabama 52%
  5. Wisconsin 50%
  6. Georgia 43%
  7. Ohio State 32%
  8. Miami 24%
  9. TCU  6%

The Sooners can still make the playoffs with a loss next Saturday, but we will have to sweat out the Ohio State/Wisconsin game. That game just a lot tighter with the J.T. Barrett’s injury.

Bob Bowlsby, the Big 12 Commissioner who came up with this Big 12 Championship scheme had better hope that OU wins next Saturday.

Otherwise, the guy should be fired on the spot…

Boomer Sooner…

 

 

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Roll Tide…

On Saturday as OU fans settle into their seats to watch the Sooners pummel West Virginia updates from the Auburn/Alabama game will trickle in. Many OU fans will cheer anytime it is announced that Auburn is on top of the Crimson Tide.

You see rooting against Alabama is akin to rooting against Texas, OSU, or Notre Dame for Sooner fans. It is simply what we do. In this case, OU fans should think twice before jumping on the War Eagle bandwagon.

Here’s my concern…OU is a one-loss team that plays in the Big 12 Conference, which means that OU will never be a slam dunk to make the playoffs with a loss.   Making matters worse is the fact that that one loss is to an Iowa State team that may be a five-loss team after Saturday.

This is what we know…the Miami/Clemson winner will be in the playoffs. We also know that if an undefeated Wisconsin team pulls a miracle and finds a way to beat Ohio State in the Big Ten Championship game the Badgers will be in as well.   Then we can rest assured that no selection committee would have the courage to overlook the winner of the SEC.

If that team is Auburn, we will have a real mess on our hands.   At that point the selection committee will be forced to choose between a one loss SEC team (Alabama) and a one loss Big 12 team (Oklahoma).

I wouldn’t spend a lot of money in Vegas betting on OU if this were to happen.

Hopefully, Wisconsin will lose to Ohio State in two weeks, but just to be safe, let’s root for Alabama over Auburn this Saturday.

Roll Tide…

 

 

 

 

 

Lincoln…

Yes, I know Kansas started things by snubbing Baker during pregame and yes I know the KU fans who have no life were probably relentless from the stands and yes the KU players targeted Baker numerous times during the game, but; Baker has to understand that he is a marked man and that his swagger encourages such behavior on the part of opposing teams.

While the elephant-eared ESPN talking-head probably thinks Lincoln Riley’s punishment is too light…he has no clue about Baker Mayfield and his love for OU football. For Baker not to be allowed to walk out as team captain on senior night is by far the worst punishment that could be administered to him.

Because Baker is Baker, he will learn from this experience and be better for it. He will also appreciate the dignity and worth of his head coach. Baker knows that Lincoln Riley had no choice in the matter.

Baker may even take the incident as motivation to mastermind an 8th National Championship. This is the difference between Baker and the “Boz” and yes, between Lincoln and Barry.

If Barry had taken a similar stance with the Boz back in the day, we would not have had the implosion that took place in its aftermath. To this day, I can’t erase those pictures of OU players in orange jump suits or Charles Thompson in handcuffs.

Here’s the bottom line…Baker will sit out the first series on Saturday and live to tell about it. Lincoln and the Sooners will use this message to reassure the parents of recruits that the program will never be allowed to return to the chaos of the late 80’s.

For OU fans that love winning more than life, loving OU football done the right way should be even more important. Lincoln showed what he was made of today. This guy’s maturity level is far beyond his years.

The future of this program is off the charts with this guy at the helm…

Boomer Sooner…

 

 

I should have seen it coming…

I was surprised when Miami jumped over OU and I was shocked when Clemson jumped over OU as well. At that point, I had to ask myself if I had been living in a cave for the past five years.

Point being…OU must be head and shoulders above other Power Conference teams to make the playoffs. Even a beat down of what was considered to be a great defensive team did little to impact the selection committee.

Now I’m worried…for this team and this quarterback not to make the playoffs in 2017 would be a travesty. Then again, if it does not happen, we will have only our leaders to blame. We knew going in that overcoming the albatross known as the Big 12 Conference would be tough.

The OU win over Ohio State will still matter, but only if the Buckeyes beat Wisconsin in the Big Ten Championship game. Otherwise the Badgers will be in.

Add to this mix the Clemson/Miami and the Alabama/Auburn/Georgia winners. If my math is correct, this leaves only one spot for the rest of America.

OU fans must then pray that the committee does not put the loser of these games in the top four as well. If so, OU will be toast.

Okay, here’s the plan. We have to do the very thing I scolded OU fans about last week. OU needs to score style points against Kansas and West Virginia. Then, TCU needs to score style points against Texas Tech and Baylor.   Finally, OU will have to throw caution against the win and beat the tar out of TCU in the Big 12 Championship game.

As they say, it is what it is…just like we can’t change defensive coordinators in midstream, we also can’t change our conference affiliation.

We can still get there, but with most things these days, it won’t be easy.  It is crunch time in Oklahoma.

Boomer Sooner…

 

 

Final four…

All Sooner Nation eyes will be locked and loaded for Tuesday night’s college playoff show. Where will the Sooners land?

The playoff selection committee is made up of committee of 13 members. Individuals serve three year stints so the committed changes from one year to the next. This makes for an interesting scenario…one year’s committee may value one thing with the next year’s group focused on something completely different.

This appears to be the case this year as this year’s committee appears to be focused on quality versus quantity. We saw this last week as OU jumped to #5 in the rankings in spite of giving up a kajillion yards and points to oSU. No one expected this to happen, but it did.

According to the committee’s spokesman who happens to be from the Big 12, this year’s committee is focused on strength of schedule and head to head matchups. Last year’s group appeared to reward teams for rubbing it in at the end of the game with meaningless points.

Apparently, those yard birds at the game on Saturday night missed this memo as they bemoaned the fact that OU was not trying to run up the score in the 2nd half against TCU. I suspect that given this year’s parameters an 18-point win against the #6 team in the country will impress this committee.

Of course I realize that far too many fans who attend OU games these days wake up in a new world every morning and just happen to find their way to the stadium, but really…

This latest selection committee would appear to bode well as the Sooners have now beaten 2nd ranked Ohio State on the road, the #11 ranked oSU on the road and now the #6 ranked team TCU last night.

This committee will also see a team that can score 30 points or more against any defense in the country.

The Ohio State win jetted the Sooners up the chart and I expect this will happen again on Tuesday. I know everyone assumes Miami will pass the Sooners due to their beat down of the Irish and their undefeated record, but I am not so sure.

Who have the Irish beaten other than this overrated Notre Dame team? They have beaten only one other ranked team and it was a then #13 Virginia Tech team.

Here’s my final four for this week.

  1. Alabama
  2. OU
  3. Miami
  4. Clemson

You may ask why does it matter whether which team is ranked #2 or #3 with these two teams squaring off in game one? It matters because we want to avoid playing Alabama in the first round at all cost so the higher up the chart the better.

Boomer Sooner…

 

The first team to 60 wins…

Right on cue, Trey Sermon takes one to the house and the first team to 60 won. Fortunately, this team was OU.

Just like everyone else, my butt cheeks were as tight as a pair of vice grips, but down deep I knew that in the end OSU would remember that they were Aggies and subsequently OU would come out on top.

Let’s get this straight. Baker, possibly the greatest player in OU history sliced and diced the OSU defense, which was seen by many as improving for some 598 yards. He also stiff-arms an OSU defender to score a touchdown.

The defense while a sieve at times actually played well when they had to. The actual final victory count of ten points was about right as the Gags seemed to be chasing a ten-point deficit all day.

As we knew going in, Baker and the offense would have to outscore Rudolph and his Reindeers and they did just that.

As someone posted, Baker has more wins over OSU in three years that the Mullet man has over OU in his twenty-three years as player and coach. That my friend is hard to do…then again, this is the difference between OU and OSU football.

According to OSU fans this was the year that OSU would finally beat OU and become a playoff team. OSU would win its 2nd Heisman and OSU would play for a legitimate National Championship.

After all with T. Boone’s help the Cowboys returned three NFL-caliber players for their senior year along with three graduate transfers. Additionally, OSU returned a ton of other players for its run to the top.

Now after the Bedlam loss the Pokes will have to hope and pray for either OU or TCU to implode and lose two games down the stretch.   I would not hold by breath on that happening.

Instead their worst nightmare has presented itself. OU will likely be a playoff team, Baker Mayfield will likely win the Heisman and OU will have its second top five recruiting class in a row.

Adding to OSU woes is the fact that their Agent Orange benefactor is not getting any younger. He can still make his way to the bank, but I suspect at his age and after a few more mini-strokes he’ll find it harder and and harder to legibly sign his signature to those bonus checks.

Texas and Baylor will be better next year and TCU under Gary Patterson and his mentor Bill Snyder will be back as well.    Mix in a stubborn West Virginia and Iowa State team and of course OU and you have a tough conference schedule. Oh, by they way, OSU plays Boise State next year as well…ouch.

Okay, there you have it…all is right with the world as Plan C worked and OU is headed down the stretch for a chance to solidify its berth in the college football playoffs.

If we can make it in, look for the Mike Stoops’ defense to fare better than it has against Big 12 teams. Coaching against run oriented offenses instead of the air raid ones we find in the Big 12 will bode well for Mike Stoops.

Life is good…

Boomer Sooner…

Mike Stoops…

First team to 60 wins…This is my Bedlam prediction. The game will feature Baker’s magic on offense against a Mike Stoops’ coached defense. Normally, I would never bet against Baker in anything, but then again we are talking Mike Stoops here.

As usual, OU is the better team and should win the game going away, but then again…

Mike Stoops made his reputation back in the dark ages and prior to the advent of Mike Leach and his air-raid offenses. Mike was busy chasing skirts in Tucson during those days. By the time he returned to Norman the game had changed.

I once suggested that Mike ask his brother for help, but then I remembered that Bob made his reputation as a defensive guru against that same tailback oriented offenses back in the day. Times have passed them both by as defensive coaches.

Thankfully, the College Football Playoff selection committee has given OU players additional motivation.   A win on Saturday and the Sooners will be playoff bound. I never dreamed that OU would be ranked ahead of Ohio State and Penn State, but then it happened and OU fans must embrace this fact as the latest chapter of Sooner Magic.

We can only hope that Baker Mayfield will use this fact to create more Sooner Magic on Saturday. Hopefully, it won’t take 60 points.

Boomer Sooner…