Tulsa World: OU's stock rises

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OU's stock rises

OU head coach Bob Stoops thanks the crowd following the Sooners' 65-21 dismantling of Texas Tech on Saturday. The Sooners moved up to No. 3 in the BCS standings behind No. 2 Texas and No. 1 Alabama. STEPHEN HOLMAN/Tulsa World

By JOHN E. HOOVER World Sports Writer
Published: 11/24/2008 2:28 AM
Last Modified: 11/24/2008 3:07 AM

Bedlam showdown with OSU looms

As the Sooner Schooner raced around Owen Field over and over Saturday night, it carried with it Oklahoma's stampeding championship hopes.

Get out of the way, Florida, and here they come, Texas.

The Sooners crushed Texas Tech 65-21 Saturday and left the Red Raiders buried in their tracks in the Owen Field grass, then on Sunday climbed to No. 3 in this week's Bowl Championship Series standings. OU jumped over the Gators and gained ground on the Longhorns.

OU's big victory moved the Sooners up to No. 2 in the USA Today coaches poll and No. 3 in the Harris Interactive poll.

"Now," OU coach Bob Stoops said Saturday night, "we're in the mix with everybody,"

The Sooners (10-1) still trail No. 1 Alabama (11-0) and No. 2 Texas (10-1) in the BCS standings. Florida (10-1) is fourth and USC (9-1) fifth. Texas Tech (10-1) fell to seventh, one spot behind Utah (12-0).

Coaches who cast a ballot were clearly impressed by OU's dominance, moving the Sooners from No. 5 past both Florida and Texas. OU received four of the 61 first-place votes. Alabama, college football's last undefeated team from a BCS conference, was idle and remained at No. 1 with 56 first-place votes.

The Sooners also climbed two spots in the Harris poll and received two of the 117 first-place votes. Alabama and Florida are 1-2 in the Harris poll.

Texas, which owns a 45-35 neutral-site victory over OU in October, climbed one spot in the BCS standings from third to second. The Longhorns remained fourth in both human polls but moved up a spot to second in an average of six computer rankings.

Oklahoma's average computer ranking improved from sixth last week to third this week.

OU's win created a three-way tie with the Longhorns and Red Raiders atop the Big 12 South standings. If all three teams win this week OU visits Oklahoma State, Texas hosts Texas A&M, Texas Tech hosts Baylor the team ranked highest in next week's Bowl Championship Series standings will advance to the conference championship game on Dec. 6. A Sooner victory over the Cowboys would likely boost OU's computer ranking even higher, especially with Texas playing a 4-7 Aggies team.

Tech coach Mike Leach one of the voters in the coaches poll had an easy time figuring out the Big 12 tiebreaker.

"I would put Oklahoma ahead," Leach said Saturday night. "They beat us and they deserve it."

Oklahoma's BCS average an average of the percentage of votes received in the polls and a team's percentage of four median computer rankings (discarding the high and the low of the six) climbed from .8388 to .9125, while Texas' improved from .8911 to .9209. OU closed the gap from .0523 to .0084.

OU also climbed two spots in the Associated Press Top 25 poll, moving from No. 5 to No. 3, climbing over No. 4 Texas (which didn't play Saturday).

The AP poll is no longer among the BCS components, but since 1936 has awarded its own national championship.

Alabama stayed No. 1 in this AP week's poll and was followed by Florida at No. 2. Those teams will meet in the SEC Championship on Dec. 6, but both face rivalry games Saturday. Alabama hosts Auburn and Florida travels to No. 23 Florida State.

Stoops was asked to what he thought Sunday's voting results spoke.

"We've got to play Oklahoma State," he replied. "But to this point, with the convincing way we just beat the No. 2 team in the country here late in the year; I guess that's what its speaking to."

John E. Hoover 581-8384
john.hoover@tulsaworld.com By JOHN E. HOOVER World Sports Writer

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	Report Comment GrannyTazzy, Tulsa (11/24/2008 6:32:10 AM) Way to go Sooners. Grat job.
	Report Comment JoJo, (11/24/2008 7:08:02 AM) The Big 12 needs realignment every few years. All the good teams are in the south. Missouri has no business playing in the Big 12 Championship game. They would have finished 5th in the South division.

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