I generally agree with you, but Stoops' record in winning Big 12 Championships (that's where you gotta start to get a shot at the big game) speaks for itself. Now, if Auburn absolutely spanks Oregon ( and I believe that is a real possibility, much more so than vice versa)then I doubt if TCU could have whipped them. If the game is really close (1 or 2 pts) or Oregon wins then I believe TCU should be No. 1 or at least tied for the "honor". Sadly, it's all speculation. Shame on the BCS teams for allowing these repeated travesties to occur.

Picker, yes, as my son and I watched OU's running back hit on the right tackle time and again for 2 or 3 yards we said the same things. He's more of a Charles Clay type (nothing wrong with that!) than a Billy Sims or Adrian Peterson. Maybe finding those guys is just not that easy.

Amen Domo...for all the scholarships Stoops has tossed at kickers the past few years you'd think one would have leg enough to bounce one out of the back of the end zone from time to time.

And speaking of running backs, next year should be interesting. Finch, Calhoun (remember him?), Clay, and a young supporting cast combined with imaginative running and passing schemes will be promising.

As OU fans and supporters, we should tone down any comments about overcoming any BCS "Curse." We've done nothing of the kind. Toss us in the arena with an Auburn...a Boise...an Oregon...and give us a chance to play with teams on that level. Once we've cleared that hurdle, we're there.

How does Mike Stoops keep his job? He's at Arizona. If he goes at least 7-5 every regular season, he has no worries about job security. After all, it's still better than the 2-10 record they had in John Mackovic's final season at Arizona. Arizona's probably the best job in the country for Stoops on Red Bull.

We most definitely need a plus-one game. This would have given TCU a chance to play the winner of the Oregon-Auburn game. If there are two undefeated teams that have won their BCS bowl games, shouldn't they play each other for the national title?

It is a shame OU hasn't had a running game over the past four years. That DeMarco Murray guy only:

Owns OU career all-purpose yards record with 6,498 yards ... also has OU record for career TDs (64) and career receiving yards by a RB (1,512) ...

is No. 6 in OU history with 3,524 rushing yards

... also has OU record for career TDs (64) and career receiving yards by a RB (1,512)

Just think, If OU had had a running game, someone might have noticed.

Yeah, Loki, and he can't even grab a yard in a goal line situation. Think Owens would have had that problem?

I think what you are overlooking is that Murray has never fully recovered from his injuries, Madu seems erratic, and that freshman guy...yea, that one, was injured as well.

Take away the injuries and you would have had a better run performance last week, no question. Heupel might be "pass happy", but he was working to his strengths in that game. What they need to get rid of is the "meerkat" look when in the red zone. Just call the freakin' play and hit the line quick.

Is TCU the best team? Maybe. Did Wisky make TCU look a lot better by not running the ball for two quarters? Definately. Especially when one of Wisky's big lugs (whichever one of 'em) was getting 5+ a carry, only to disappear 'till the 4th quarter and then BAM! Wisky starts blowing through TCU's defense again. Where's the hue 'n cry to sack the OC of Wisky's team?

What's interesting is how Stoops seems to have won in a no-win game. His status has gone up a bit even though UCONN was third-rate at best. I suppose the impact of sports blowhards around the nation isn't all what it's cracked up to be.

...cuz he's like, you know, a sportswriter.

A wooden stake for the "Medium Game Bob" shibboleth, for your dining and dancing pleasure.

The BCS was established for one purpose (besides money), to match the top ranked team against the second ranked team. It has delivered that. Before the BCS, the 1-2 matchup happened less than ten percent of the time. It's every year now.

In the BCS era, Bob Stoops' Sooners have played for more national championships than any other program or coach.

More than Meyers.
More than Saban.
More than Carroll.
More than Tressel.
More than Bowden.
More than Kelly.
More than Patterson.

Would it be nice to have won more of those games? Clearly, yes.

But Stoops has put his team in the BCS Championship Game more than any of his contemporaneous "Giants" (None of whom have been saddled with a juvenile moniker by a graceless peanut gallery.)

Loki, nobody is saying that Bob hasn't gotten his team into a bunch of big games. His accomplishments at OU are truly impressive. The one that impressed me the most is the 11 game winning seasons compared to the other power teams and coaches.

The name "Big Game Bob" was given to Stoops because he WON big games. When his record in big games suffered, Pick-man coined the rather original (despite Dave's incorrect claim that it was unoriginal) title of "Medium Game Bob".

As Picker has explained his original term (and, since it's his, we should give him that opportunity) a national power program like OU only has a "big" game if the game further drives OU towards another MNC title. Others, like playing for the south and conference titles in years where OU isn't in the national title hunt, are "medium" games.

Pick-man calling him "Medium Game Bob" is actually an acknowledgement by Pick-man that Stoops WINS those games (like he used to win "big" games). If Stoops's record in those games weren't so good, we'd have to call him something else.

After OU's road woes this year and the fact that Bedlam (although it was a big game for OSU) was, under Picker's terminology, only a "medium" game for Stoops, I posted that, if Stoops lost on the road in Bedlam, we should start calling him "Home Game Bob". When he won, I came back and said he deserved to continue to be called "Medium Game Bob".

It's all good, clean fun. Every thinking person has to admire what Stoops has done. One of my favorite Stoops comments was after he lost his last "big game". He was unfazed by the questions at the presser and said something like, "And when we get home, we're going back to work to try to get to the title game next year, if it's all the same to all of you." Championship stuff, that.

Picker, it's just amazing to all of us that you were able to realize that OU would win the Fiesta against UConn, given your inability to pick most of the bowls preceding correctly. You even missed the UConn game actually, didn't you predict 13 point spread, O Great Genius? Sittler has your number little feller, go get him!

I've been reading Dave since he wrote for the Oklahoman and I've been reading the Picker since he was the Tribune Picker.

Give the points.