By MICHAEL PETERS Sports Editor on Oct 28, 2012, at 1:52 AM Updated on 10/28 at 1:52 AM
THE EDITOR'S DESK
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What a crazy night for Oklahoma sports fans.
In the span of about 30 minutes, Notre Dame turned a tie game into a runaway win over the Sooners and the Oklahoma City Thunder remade its roster with the trade of James Harden.
Here's a college football/NBA edition of Instant Analysis.
1. OK, on second thought, Notre Dame is pretty good
I admit it. I looked at the Irish's so-so schedule and pedestrian offense and thought Oklahoma might win Red River style Saturday night.
Even Vegas made the Sooners a double-digit favorite.
But I was wrong. This Notre Dame team is made of a little something different than those of the last few years.
The Irish controlled the clock, even when it didn't score (OU had one possession in a scoreless third quarter).
And Notre Dame's defense made Oklahoma drive the field, figuring OU wouldn't be able to finish (the Sooners didn't have their second three-and-out of the game until the fourth quarter, but only had six points).
Only a finale at USC would seem to be able to derail Notre Dame from an undefeated regular season. Will that be good enough to get the Irish into the BCS title game? It will be close.
2. So where does Oklahoma go from here?
I think we've established that OU is firmly a top 20 team, but a little short of being a top 10 team.
The way the Sooners lost the battles up front against Notre Dame (rushing for just 15 yards while allowing 215) indicates the talk of OU lacking enough line talent may be correct.
While the Sooners were losing to Notre Dame, they also got bad news in the Big 12 race. With Kansas State's convincing victory over Texas Tech, OU lost its last chance of winning the Big 12 without the Wildcats losing twice. (The Sooners could have potentially won a three-way tie with Tech and K-State had the Red Raiders won Saturday and the three teams won out after that).
With Kansas State's remaining schedule, it will be an upset if it loses once, much less twice. If the Wildcats stay undefeated, they'll likely play for the BCS title.
OU's best bet is to win out and hope for an at-large BCS invitation.
3. Welcome back Wes Lunt
Despite a shaky start, it was a solid return for Oklahoma State quarterback Wes Lunt.
Returning from injury to replace his now injured replacement J.W. Walsh, Lunt seemed to lack confidence early. And you could sense the coaches did too given the play calling (although OSU's staff after the game claimed its conservative strategy was a reaction to TCU's defensive plan).
The Cowboys' much-maligned defense has been really good the last three weeks -- better than I ever expected. It was a big reason for what became a convincing win over TCU -- a game OSU had to have.
Oklahoma State is the only school in the Big 12 other than Kansas State that controls its own destiny in the league title race. But now the Cowboys' schedule starts to get interesting.
So far, OSU's three conference wins are against teams in the league's bottom four. I suspect the Cowboys will lose at least a couple of its remaining five games.
We'll know much more after next Saturday, when OSU visits Kansas State.
4. A little good news for TU
Tulsa, which didn't play this week, could certainly use a little good news after its injury-plagued near-upset loss to Rice.
The Hurricane may have gotten some Saturday in the form of Arkansas' loss to Mississippi. After stringing together consecutive wins to breathe some life back into the program, the Razorbacks were beaten by a last-second field goal Saturday in Little Rock.
Arkansas needs three wins in its final four games just to become bowl eligible, and after facing Tulsa, it finishes with South Carolina, Mississippi State and LSU.
If Tulsa can jump on Arkansas early, the Razorbacks might remember they quit on the season about four weeks ago.
5. So long Big Three
So where do you stand on the James Harden trade?
I'm a little mixed. At one level, I'm a big believer in getting value for a player you expect to lose to free agency. But at the same time, Saturday's trade of Harden to the the Houston Rockets for Kevin Martin, Jeremy Lamb and draft picks is extremely risky if you believe the Big Three was capable of winning a championship this year.
It will be interesting to see how the parts mesh when the season opens Thursday.
One of the knocks on Kevin Martin early in his tenure in Houston was he never developed into the franchise player for which the Rockets seemed to be planning.
He won't need to be that in OKC. But his injury history and the amount he's been shopped recently by the Rockets should be a concern.
I hate to keep bringing this up, but the reaction to Saturday's news -- which broke in the fourth quarter of the OU-Notre Dame game -- continues to demonstrate the changing tide of fan interest in this state.
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