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Gameday: Instant analysis
Published: 10/23/2011 1:59 AM
Last Modified: 10/23/2011 1:59 AM

Here are a few things we learned from another crazy night of college football.

1. OSU was who we thought they were
I was a little amused last week over the abundance of concern about Oklahoma State's trip to Missouri. I know the Tigers have been good the last several years and their schedule has been tough, but they lost three games -- now four -- for a reason.

The Cowboys failed to put Missouri away early, but did just enough to win going away. It was a solid, if not earth-shattering, effort. When you get to No. 4 in the BCS rankings, you're expected to win games like that. Consider expectations met.

2. OU definitely isn't who we thought they were
I'm not sure what to make of Oklahoma's stunning loss to Texas Tech. Did all the injuries finally catch up with the Sooners or have they been overconsidered?

OU seemed a worthy national title contender, but getting run out of its own building by a run-of-the-mill Tech team pretty much ends any national title hopes. It was a surprising outcome, but maybe it shouldn't have been.

The Sooners opponents are a combined 27-22. And who is OU's best win against this season? Florida State looked like a good win at the time, but the Seminoles are 4-3 with a loss at Wake Forest. Texas has the best record -- 4-2. Ball State has the most wins -- five. That's not exactly LSU and Alabama.

But maybe it's as simple as this: to win a national title you have to be lucky and healthy. On Saturday, OU played without five starters due to injury, and it wasn't nearly lucky enough to make up for it.

3. Showdowns loom in Tulsa's future
Through its first three Conference USA games, Tulsa has dutifully taken care of business. But now things get a little harder.

This week's game against SMU isn't a must win for the Golden Hurricane, but it almost certainly is for the Mustangs. SMU suffered a surprising 27-3 loss to Southern Mississippi on Saturday. A setback to Tulsa would put SMU two games behind the division lead with four league games to play.

The Golden Hurricane will see a little desperation. If Tulsa can handle it, it will cross one more hurdle on the way to a C-USA title game berth.

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Blue&Gold (last year)

The game against TU is a MUST win for SMU. A loss would essentially put the Mustangs 3 games behind (2 games in loss column plus the head to head tie break). Best scenario for TU is to win this week, take care of business against good but inferior opponents (UCF, Marshall). Hammer UTEP w/ no defense and go into the Houston game 7-0 in conference play. With SMU basically eliminated at that point, they are still a dangerous team against Houston the week before Houston comes to Tulsa to set up THE SHOWDOWN. What no one seems to realize is that TU's defense is good enough to shut teams down. This week Rice had 1 extended drive for a TD, and one fluke long TD just before half on what appeared to be a miscommunication on coverage (man vs. zone). No one has really run the ball at all against TU...and SMU most certainly will have to run to beat the Hurricane.

mgpeters (last year)

It will definitely be a fun game. I was very surprised SMU was handled so easily by Southern Miss.

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The Editor's Desk

Tulsa World Sports Editor Michael Peters has nearly 20 years of daily newspaper experience. A 1993 graduate of Texas A&M, he worked at papers in Bryan-College Station, Texas, Beaumont, Texas, and Galveston, Texas, before joining the Houston Chronicle as High School Sports Editor in 2008. While in Houston, he coordinated coverage of the 2008 Texas Class 5A state football championships and the 2011 NCAA Men's Final Four.

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