For whatever curious reason, Franchione decided to fire a verbal shot Wednesday at the OU program. It's a shot I guarantee you will be heard around the Sooner football coaching offices often between now and when the two teams meet Nov. 3 on Owen Field.

The Houston Chronicle reported that Franchione, while speaking to the Hous ton Touchdown Club and breaking down the Big 12's South Division race, couldn't resist jabbing the Sooners when he talked about their uncertainty at quarterback.

"That may be the only question they have . . . other than what jobs they are going to work this year," Franchione said. "That is a joke; I couldn't resist."

Franchione's "joke" was in reference to Stoops kicking two players off the team last summer when he learned they had accepted money for work not completed at a Norman car dealership.

Starting sophomore quarterback Rhett Bomar was one of them. Stoops' drastic action not only created an immediate problem for OU, it meant the Sooners would enter the 2007 season with three inexperienced quarterbacks.

Stoops declined to fire back at Franchione on Friday, the day OU conducted its annual media day. Well, he sort of declined.

Strongly emphasizing that he was not addressing any one coach, Stoops said: "There are a lot of people who have a lot to say when they don't have a Big 12 championship to talk about."

Stoops, of course, overcame the loss of Bomar and an injury to All-American tailback Adrian Peterson to win his fourth Big 12 title in eight seasons at OU. During that stretch, he is 7-1 against A&M and 4-0 against Franchione, including that 77-point win that Franchione later told Sports Illustrated reduced him to tears.

And before any Aggie fans start firing off angry e-mails denying that Franchione wanted the OU job, they should consider this: When John Blake was fired after the 1998 season, Franchione telephoned me to ask if I would write columns pushing him for the job. He made a similar request to at least one Oklahoma City sportscaster.

Franchione has never won the South Division of the Big 12, let alone a league title. The Aggies have finished no higher than third in the South in his four seasons, which is why Franchione is on the hot seat.

"There are some guys talking about, 'If this happened in this game, and this happened in that game,' in like three or four games, they'd be Big 12 champions," said Stoops, again stressing that he was talking in the plural. "Who had more happen to them last season than us?"

Stoops, who has coached OU to five Big 12 title games, will long consider the 2006 conference championship among his favorite accomplishments because of the adversity his team overcame.

But exactly one year after he met the press at the 2006 media day, Stoops was thrilled over what a difference 365 days can make. He acknowledged that at this time last August, he felt like someone had slugged him in the gut when he learned Bomar and offensive lineman J.D. Quinn had lied about their employment at the car dealership.

"A year ago, I didn't have a hand in it," Stoops said of NCAA rules that were broken. "But it tugs at you . . . that it reflects on you in such a negative way when it wasn't you. That part is hard.

"But now I feel like a million bucks."

Some think Stoops should feel like he has a million reasons to worry because the quarterback position is so unsettled on a team that otherwise could be good enough to defend its Big 12 title.

Between now and the Sept. 1 opener against North Texas, Stoops must settle on a starter out of a trio of untested quarterbacks. The candidates include junior Joey Halzle, redshirt freshman Sam Bradford and true freshman Keith Nichol.

Still, it's not crazy to suggest that OU's quarterback situation is a lot more settled than it was a year ago at media day. Just one day earlier, Stoops had sent Bomar packing and asked Paul Thompson to switch from wide receiver back to the quarterback position where he had previously struggled.

"I don't know exactly how to describe it," Stoops said. "But a year ago, I felt betrayed. And there was so much uncertainty (at quarterback).

"But now there is no uncertainty. I can say that because these (coaches) have seen these (quarterbacks) every day, and they know what they are getting. It's a more confident situation by a long shot."

Speaking of shots, Stoops should have a quarterback who's ready to launch a few at Franchione and the Aggies three months from now. But they'll be fired on a football field in Norman instead of a hotel ballroom in Houston.