Red River Rivalry Prediction

Just thought I would go ahead and throw out my prediction for the big game Saturday. Some say that the easy pick is Texas because Oklahoma just has not looked that good on offense this year. Others might say that the easy pick for me would be the Sooners because I’m such an OU homer. So, do I go with logic or my crimson blood?

How about both! I am picking the Sooners because of logic and my heart. I honestly have not been very impressed with Texas this year. I know they have great talent and a Heisman contender at QB. But, Colt McCoy has not been that impressive and the offense, a lot alike OU, is not putting up the numbers it did last season.

In fact it’s not even close. The Longhorns are 22nd in the nation in passing offense with a 148.0 rating. The Sooners have already played two teams with better ratings (Miami and Tulsa) and have more than held their own. Remember Tulsa was shut out by the Oklahoma defense. Oh and don’t forget that the Horn’s rank 51st in the nation in rushing.

So to summarize, the Sooners have similar passing numbers with a 144.1 rating and slightly better rushing numbers than Texas and that has been without Sam Bradford for the most part this year who will be ready to go Saturday. Also, Oklahoma has put up its numbers against a much tougher schedule than Texas has.

If you want to point out that OU didn’t look too good in the first half of the Baylor game, try to remember that Texas was down at the half to Colorado who may be the worst team in the Big 12.

Defensively, Texas is pretty solid but not great. Oklahoma has been great. Brent Venables has his crew rated number 3 in the country giving up only 8 points per game while Texas is rated at 15th giving up 15 points per game. Again, Oklahoma has done that against a much better level of competition.

My prediction is that Oklahoma wins a close game somewhere in the neighborhood of 28-24. I would also predict that if Texas had played the schedule that Oklahoma has played and lost its quarterback for most of that time, they too would probably have a loss. Let’s not forget that both of OU’s losses were by one point. Two more points in each of those games for OU and we would be looking at a game this weekend between two top 5 teams and Oklahoma would probably be favored simply because they would have beaten better teams coming in.

Bradford is back and ready to play and usually the team that was not supposed to win will win this rivalry game.

Stoops Favors Home And Home With Texas

In his weekly press conference on Tuesday, Bob Stoops said that he would like to see the Red River Rivalry be played in Norman and Austin every once in a while.

Every year at this time the location of the game is a big topic. Most fans on both sides would probably tell you that they prefer to keep it the way it is in Dallas at the Cotton Bowl. However, official from both cities and schools would probably like to see the economic impact that the game would have for the folks back home if they were able to host the game every other year.

Unfortunately for those people they will have to wait a while to see it happen. The two schools have a contract with the Cotton Bowl through the 2015 season.

In my opinion, if the game were to be moved to a home and home rotation, it would be a big blow to the fans of both teams. It would also take away from the uniqueness of the rivalry. I believe that the setting is a big part of what makes the Red River Rivalry the best rivalry in all of football.

College Football Power Poll

There has been a lot of talk about a certain AP voter (Doug Lesmerises) and the way he has ranked his teams in the AP poll. Though I wouldn’t go to the extreme that he has on some of his rankings by placing Oklahoma State and BYU above Florida or putting Miami at number 2, but I do agree with his way of looking at the present body of work instead of preseason speculation or reputation.

With that in mind here is my Power Poll. I ranked just the top 10.

1. Alabama – The Tide have 2 great wins. A 10 point win over Virginia Tech, who prove to be too good for Miami, and an impressive blowout win against Arkansas.

2. Florida – Though I’m not supposed to look at reputation, you can’t overlook the fact that we know how good this defense is because they have everybody back from last year and have not done anything to show me that they aren’t as good. Plus everybody knows Tim Tebow is the greatest thing since sliced bread.

3. Houston – It may seem crazy but if you look at what they have done this year, they were just as impressive against Texas Tech as Texas was, plus they beat OSU in Stillwater.

4. Texas – Even though they have not had the chance to prove themselves against a great team, they did take care of rival Texas Tech and they have the Heisman front runner in QB Colt McCoy.

5. Virginia Tech – Their only loss was to the best team in the country on the road, and they made Miami look like the Who instead of the U.

6. Iowa – Most people wouldn’t have the Hawkeyes in their top ten, but again, if you look at what they have done this year they deserve this ranking. They easily beat Penn State on the road and by the end of the season the win against Arizona will look pretty impresive.

7. USC - The only real difference between the Trojans and Sooners so far this year is that USC took care of Ohio State on the road which is pretty impressive.

8. Oklahoma – Now that the Sooners have dominated Tulsa 45-0, people like to say that Tulsa just wasn’t that good and the win didn’t really prove anything. But before the game everyone said that it would be a tough game and we would see how good OU’s defense is. I still think it was a very impressive win and helped the Sooners turn a corner.

9. LSU – I know they are undefeated and I have two teams ranked ahead of them that have losses, but again, just by watching them against Mississippi State I was not impressed at all and they really should have lost that game.

10. TCU - Their win at Clemson is more impressive than anything that Boise State has done so far this season. Ranking the Broncos in front of the Horned Frogs like most people have done is just another example of ranking a team by it’s reputation.

In or Out

The big question this week is that of the playing status of Sam Bradford this weekend in Miami. Will he or will he not play?

My guess is that he plays. But, again, that is just a guess. Which is the best that anyone can do now that Coach Bob Stoops has decided not to give any updates on the health or availability of his star quarterback.

Over the weekend ESPN reported that Sam Bradford was meeting with Dr. James Andrews to get clearance to play against Miami. The clearance was needed for the insurance that Bradford took out before the season. If this report is true it would seem very likely that Bradford feels healthy enough to start against the Hurricanes.

Bradford came back to Oklahoma for another season for one thing. A national championship. A win over Miami would put the Sooners right back in the hunt for that championship. Because of this, it would seem as though Bradford would really have to be hurting pretty bad to be kept out of this game.

Not only could Bradford help his team get back in the national title hunt with a win, but with the way the other top players in the country have performed so far, he could also propel himself right back into the Heisman conversation.

With some losses by highly ranked teams the Sooners find themselves in a position that allows them to reach the BCS championship again. With a win in Miami the Sooners would surely move up to fifth or sixth in the polls. Another win in Dallas would remove another team from the top five and Oklahoma would find itself probably third or fourth.

After Florida, LSU, and Alabama beat each other up leaving only one of those teams with the possibility unbeaten the Sooners could see themselves fighting for votes from a familiar foe for the second spot. Boise State is currently unbeaten and ranked ahead of Oklahoma.

A more attractive scenario for Sooner fans would be if all of the SEC teams end up with a loss and maybe the polls put Oklahoma and Boise State in a national championship. Not too likely, but fun to think about.

Turning Point

Oklahoma’s game with Tulsa this Saturday could be a turning point for Sooner fans. After this game fans will either start to think about winning out and hoping other teams lose in order for Oklahoma to make it back to the BCS championship game or they will start calling for some coach’s heads. In Oklahoma, you either win every game or you start taking some heat. Sooner fans aren’t used to seeing their team lose two games before conference games begin. Bob Stoops will have to get his team to show some real improvement in order to keep that from happening. Especially now that Miami has proven to be a real threat.

If you are wanting to know what to expect from this team, just take a look at the past decade. Since Stoops has been in Norman there have been a few times when things were looking pretty dark for the Sooners early in the year. However, this coaching staff has always found a way to turn things around.

After Oklahoma lost to TCU in 2005 the Sooners may have finished with an 8-4 record, but that was also the last time they won a bowl game. The difference this year is that Stoops and Kevin Wilson can look forward to getting a Heisman Trophy winning quarterback to return to the roster in the next couple of weeks.

The very next year after Rhett Bomar was dismissed from the team before the season started, the Sooners lost to Oregon and Texas. Don’t forget that it didn’t take too long for Adrian Peterson to suffer his injury and fans were wondering how the Sooners would even make it to a descent bowl game. However, Stoops turned things around and won his fourth Big 12 championship.

The bottom line is that the Oklahoma coach’s have proven theirselves over and over. The difference between Oklahoma suffering a few setbacks and a team like Oklahoma State suffering a few setbacks is that the Sooners consistently recruit the best football players in the country and have the talent to cover up a lot of the holes left by injuries. College football is still all about coaching and recruiting and Oklahoma has not slacked off in either of those two areas.

My bet is that the Sooners find a way to shore up the offensive line this week, prove that they can stop a dynamic offense like the one Tulsa will bring, and will get Sam Bradford back during the off week. Therefore, it’s not too much of a stretch to think that the Sooners could find a way to lose no more than 1 or 2 more games this season. They still have to be considered the number 2 favorite in the Big 12 and anything can happen in the game against Texas.

Don’t be surprised if Oklahoma finds a way to win another confernece title or even make it’s way back into the BCS championship. They still have championship caliber talent on the field.

College Basketball Preseason All-Americans for 2009-10

After the events of last weekend, perhaps it’s a good time to talk some basketball. Most Sooner fans will have a hard time looking past the loss of Blake Griffin. However, what they may have forgotten is that Willie Warren was known around the country as one of the most explosive offensive players from last years freshman class. In fact, Kansas coach Bill Self told ESPN’s Fran Fraschilla that Warren was the best offensive player he has ever recruited.

Don’t forget that this will be the first time in OU history that there will be three McDonalds All-Americans on the team at the same time. Looks like Jeff Capel is a recruiting machine!

 Here is a look at a preseason All-American list from Fox Sports’ Jeff Goodman. Pretty nice list if you’re an OU fan.

Preseason All-Americans for 2009-10

Sorry Sam

As bad as OU fans might feel after watching that pitiful effort on Saturday versus BYU, the person you really have to feel sorry for is Sam Bradford. In a shocking move over the offseason, Bradford showed his team colors by deciding to come back for one more season. It was very clear that the only reason he came back was for a shot at a national championship. That goal lasted all of one half.

Actually, it didn’t even last that long. Even with Bradford in the lineup for the first half, you could already tell that this would be a long year for the offense. Not only did the line fail to block or fail to know the snap count, but the play calling brought back memories of the Chuck Long days. Kevin Wilson’s play calling was more conservative than Rush Limbaugh.

There’s something wrong with an offensive coordinator that won’t throw the ball when you have a quarterback that just won the Heisman Trophy and has recorded possibly the best two seasons as a passer in the history of college football. Running the ball over and over isn’t exactly the way to break in an inexperienced line.

The fact that Jermain Gresham was unable to play also played a big part in the defeat. Oklahoma was just 2 for 11 on 3rd down conversions. That stat alone shows how much the Sooners missed Gresham. The All-American is a go-to receiver on 3rd down that nobody in the country can cover.

If the offensive line doesn’t improve it’s protection of the quarterback, Wilson may have to go to third string quarterback Drew Allen by the second quarter of the Idaho State game. Let’s just say that this edition of the o-line won’t be asked to pull secret service duty any time soon. The biggest question is at what point in time did these linemen forget that you can’t move until the ball is snapped? Hopefully today they are in a class room learning about snap counts.

Bradford could possibly be back for the Miami game. Unfortunately, that could be his death penalty. With the current protection he has, that could possibly be the last time he suits up in a college game. Let’s not even talk about what Texas would do to him.

In all actuality, not all is lost for the Sooners. They have played for a national title with one loss before. Also, this is not the first time that Bob Stoops has had to do damage control after the first game. If the Sooners can get some good news over the next two weeks, all of their goals could still be in place. The good news is that the defense looks like the defense that we are used to seeing at Oklahoma. But, you gotta feel bad for a quarterback that passed up millions just to bring the Sooner Nation another title and gets rewarded with a banged up shoulder.

Guaranteed Picks

Since we all know that I am a genius when it comes to college football, I figured that I should go ahead and give everybody some guaranteed picks. So, here are my top three picks against the spread for this weekend.

Oklahoma minus 22.5 vs BYU

Oklahoma State minus 5.5 vs Georgia

Baylor plus 2.5 vs Wake Forest

TOP 5 QUESTIONS FACING ‘09 SOONERS

Every Sooner fan is wondering the same thing. Is this the year Bob Stoops brings another national title to the Sooner Nation? However, there are always a handful of things that must go just right if a team is going to win it all. The 2000 Sooners went the entire season without a single starter missing a game. The ‘08 Texas Longhorns were actully one interception away from playing for the title.

What must happen in order for Oklahoma to satisfy it’s natives by winning the national championship? Here are the Top 5 Questions Sooner fans should have on their mind entering the season.

1. Will the offensive line develop like they seem to every other year since Stoops has been in Norman? The coach’s will tell you that the line could actually be better than last year by the end of the season. Unfortunately, they will need them to be good well before the end of the season. Oklahoma has one of the toughest schedules in the country and will need a strong performance from it’s o-line on October 3rd when they pay a visit to Miami. The biggest test will come October 17th when they begin a tough stretch in which they will play 3 of 4 games against preseason top 25 teams starting with the Red River Rivalry against Texas. Fortunately for the Sooners the one returning starter from last years line, Trent Williams, was considered by many to be the best of that group.

2. Will the special teams be a sore spot once again? It was very surprising to see the special teams perform as badly as they did in ‘08. Mainly because they were coached by Bob Stoops himself. The good news is that Stoops has taken it personally and will do everything possible to improve the special teams. The word from the fall camp is that kicker Jimmy Stevens has added some leg strength and has shown to be much more accurate than a year ago. It has also been said that Stevens has dealt with some issues concerning his nerves during games. Hopefully after a year of playing in some really big games he has gotten over that.

3. Can DeMarco Murray stay healthy and finally play in a bowl game? The talented running back has missed each of the last two bowl games. There are many that believe his absence is what cost the Soonersagainst Florida. As solid as Chris Brown is, Murray adds a big play threat to the offense that they don’t have withBrown. Perhaps his biggest asset is what he brings to the passing game. Defensive coach’s around the country have said that with Murray in the lineup the Sooners are a match-up nightmare. When healthy, Murray is probably one of the top 3 or 4 running backs in the country.

4. Will Oklahoma be able to defeat Texas? This question is on the minds of Sooner fans before every season. However, this years edition of the Red River Rivalry may very well be the most hyped game the two have ever played. The anticipation brings back memories of the old Oklahoma-Nebraska games. There is so much bitterness in the air now that it may be difficult to see the game from the upper levels of the Cotton Bowl. This one is probably the game of the decade and will go a long way towards deciding both the Big Twelve and national championships.

5. Can Bob Stoops and Oklahoma win a BCS Bowl game? Until the Sooners win another BCS game this question will continue to be asked. In fact the futility the Sooners have endured in BCS games is starting to become a major problem. Nobody wants to be considered the Buffalo Bills of the NCAA and you definately don’t want to be know to recruits as the team that can’t win the big games. In defense of Oklahoma, they have won plenty of big games lately. Remember, they beat Texas two years ago and last season they defeated Texas Tech and Missouri in big games when each were ranked in the top 5. Oh yeah, don’t forget they beat OSU on the road to end the regular season to send them to the Big 12 championship. A national championship in ‘09 will put an end to all of that talk and the next thing you know people will be talking about the Sooners as the team of the decade.

BIG TWELVE POWER POLL

Posted by Jacob Keyes

Well, I took some time off from this blog, however, since there is so much hype leading into this season I have decided that I better get back on the horse. Let’s start by ranking the Big Twelve.

It’s pretty clear by looking at the title of this blog who I am ranking number one, but the rest of the conference was kinda tough to rank. There is a small surprise at number two. Call me stupid or ignorant but just remember that I can’t stand Texas or Oklahoma State. Let’s just call it a hunch.

 

1. Oklahoma – Maybe the o-line will take some time to gell, but everytime the line is supposed to be a weakness, they prove to be a strength by the end of the year. The offense is still going to be one of the best in the country. The difference from last year is that the defense will also be one of the best in the country. The Sooners will be a better team overall than they were in ‘08.

2. Oklahoma State – I give the Cowboys a slight edge over Texas because I truly believe that the defense will finally improve with Bill Young. They have the talent at the skill positions to defeat Texas at home, but they don’t stand much of a chance in Norman. They may only lose one game. Wow!! Never thought I would say that.

3. Texas – The Red River Rivalry will be a great game again. But, don’t forget that the only reason Texas won last year was because of an injured star on OU’s defense. Texas won’t have as much fun against OU’s much improved defense. Plus OU’s inexperienced line catches a break because the weak point in Texas defense is it’s line.

4. Kansas - It’s pretty much a toss up between the Jayhawks and Huskers. I will go with the Jayhawks at number four only because they are much better at the most important position on the field, quarterback.

5. Nebraska - Maybe the black-shirts are back, but the key to this teams success is at QB. If they have found a Josh Huepel in their J.C. transfer then this could be a great season for the Huskers.

6. Texas Tech - They lost alot of talent but lets not forget that every quarterback that plays for Leach is successful. The Red Raiders will always score alot of points. It’s the same old story on defense though. If they can stop teams from scoring they could surprise some teams.

7. Baylor - Before you laugh, remember that the Bears may have the most exciting QB in the country in Griffin.

8. Colorado - The Buffs are in the same boat at Missouri. No quarterback! But I really like the running backs.

9. Missouri - They lost every player that mattered and will have to rebuild. The recruiting has been strong of late. So, maybe they have enough talent to keep them around .500.

10. Texas A&M - Now for the most overrated program in the country. I see nothing that makes me believe they could pull off any upsets. The only reason I don’t have them last is because for some reason they always catch a few really talented recruits. There has to be some talent somewhere on that team.

11. Kansas State - Can Snyder do it again. He gives the Wildcats the edge over Iowa State. If he brings this program back again, I will say he’s the greatest coach of all time. Well, maybe not.

12. Iowa State - Who really cares!