I’ve had a number of people over the last few weeks try to convince me that it is in Texas’ best interests to root for the Oklahoma Sooners in Thursday’s national championship game against the Florida Sooners. These arguments generally boil down to two points:
- Texas would receive more money from a win by a Big 12 Conference team
- A close win by Oklahoma might lead to Texas taking the top spot in the final AP poll (e.g. the mythical split championship)
Let’s just put aside the ethical concerns of rooting for the Cheaters from the North for a moment…
As for the first argument, yes, the members of the Big 12 Conference do split the money earned from a BCS game, and it does pay more if OU wins. However, Texas doesn’t need the money.
And as for the idea of Texas getting a split national championship, you can just put that out of your head. Even prior to the bowls being played, that was long shot. At this point, it is impossible, because:
- USC stomped on Penn State: No, USC won’t split the title either, but they beat Penn State bad enough that some of the AP voters who are annoyed with the BCS will vote for USC, not Texas.
- Utah beat Alabama convincingly: Frankly, Utah has a better case for splitting the title than Texas, and if the Florida-Oklahoma game is close, it might just happen.
In addition to these two issues, we need to consider the fact that a win by Oklahoma gives Bob Stoops even more ammo in the recruiting wars.
We’re recruiting fairly evenly with OU right now. We’re winning some of the recruits and losing some of the recruits.
On the field, however, the wins are coming Texas’ way disproportionally right now.
If we continue on the current path, I expect we’ll start winning more and more of the recruiting battles as well. A win by the Sooners can only help them.
Let’s close by going back to the ethical issues. We know the Sooners have a history of cheating.
Could you sleep with yourself if you root for them?
So, go Gators!