Sun Bowl
Oklahoma Sooners vs. Stanford Cardinal
December 31, 2009, 1pm Central
El Paso, Texas
Network: CBS

Oklahoma fielded their worst offense in the Bob Stoops era this year. Injuries kept Sam Bradford out for most of the season, and the offensive line has as many holes as a TSA security plan.

The Wife is a complete addict of HGTV. This afternoon I was watching a bit of TV with her before she had to get ready for the night shift, and as we watched “Color Splash with David Bromstad”, something occurred to me.

I will always take an ugly win over a pretty loss. And Saturday’s 16-13 win by the Texas Longhorns over the Oklahoma Sooners certainly qualifies as an ugly win.

Especially the first half, where Texas managed only 59 yards of offense (compared to Oklahoma’s 192). Colt McCoy was sacked four times in the first thirty minutes.

Last night’s home game against the Oklahoma Sooners was one of the greatest in the Rick Barnes era. I hate to say it, but OU is a great team, and will likely make a deep run in the playoffs.

But Texas dug deep and was the better team on Saturday.

A fantastic tribute song to Big Game Bob Stoops and his bowl record by Ryan Parker.

The Oklahoma Sooners proved that they didn’t belong in the national championship picture last night, as the Florida Gators allows only two touchdowns, winning 24-14.

Some thoughts, in no particular order…

1st – Florida Gators
They looked great tonight and their defense was amazing, holding a potent OU offense to fourteen points. Yes, their loss was worse than ours, but they’ve certainly gotten it done since then.
2nd – Texas Longhorns
No, they didn’t exactly dominate the Fiesta Bowl, but Ohio State played their best game of the season [...]

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:

1. Texas would receive more money from a win by a Big 12 Conference team
2. 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…

With the Oklahoma Sooners’ undeserved national championship game approaching, let’s look back at the history of rules breaking at this fine institution.

1889: The Land Run
Territories in Oklahoma were opened for settlement at high noon on April 22, 1889, with an estimated 50,000 people lined up for their piece of the available two million acres. It was called a land run as land was claimed on a first come, first served basis.

Those who broke the rules by crossing the border into the territory before it was allowed were said to have been crossing the border sooner, leading to the term “sooners”, which eventually became the state’s official nickname.

Thus, the state institutionalized the approval of cheating. [...]

My Christmas wish of a playoff in Division 1A football did not come true this year, and the new year approaches, so it’s time to start thinking about the BCS games starting next week. [...]