TULSA WORLD HOMEPAGE | Wednesday, February 10, 2010 | WIRELESS
CONTACT US | SUBSCRIBER SERVICES | SIGN IN SIGN OUT | MY PROFILE PAGE | MY ACCOUNT

Follow us on Facebook Follow us on Twitter Follow us on RSS
Sports Extra!
Follow us on ...
OU | OSU | TU | ORU | HIGH SCHOOLS | COLLEGE FOOTBALL | COLLEGE BASKETBALL | NFL | FANTASY | OUTDOORS | GOLF | PROS | ALL




SPORTS EXTRA BLOGS
    Sports Editor
Mike Strain
Sports Columnist
Dave Sittler
The Picker
Entertaining & Infuriating

LOCAL PROS

ALL SPORTS

PHOTOS & VIDEOS

OUTDOORS

FIND A STORY

EMAIL ALERTS

SOCIAL MEDIA

RSS FEEDS

CONTACT US
BUY PHOTOS & PAGES

TULSA WORLD

ADVERTISE ON SPORTS EXTRA



Newspaper View Newspaper View      Print this story Print      Email this story Email     
Share      Bookmark Bookmark

Early poll shows ' 09 may be big for Pokes

 
By DAVE SITTLER World Sports Columnist
Published: 12/18/2008  2:34 AM
Last Modified: 12/18/2008  11:02 PM

 STILLWATER — The Dec. 30 date for the Holiday Bowl is absolutely perfect for Oklahoma State.

OSU will depart around noon on the day after its Tuesday night game against Oregon in San Diego. That means the team will arrive home in plenty of time to celebrate New Year's Eve and welcome in 2009, which many believe will be the Year of the Cowboys.

The showdown between the No. 13 Cowboys (9-3) and No. 15 Ducks (9-3) at Qualcomm Stadium shapes up as potentially one of the most exciting and intriguing of the whopping 34-bowl contests.

It offers OSU an opportunity to whip up on a Pac-10 Conference team in an NFL stadium in one of this country's most beautiful cities. It doesn't get much better than that, right?

Oh, it apparently could get a whole lot better. If early predictions are anywhere close to being accurate, the end of the 2008 season could be the start of something really big by the time we next see the Cowboys in their 2009 season opener.

Yes, we are talking REALLY early predictions here. After all, the glut of bowl games doesn't even get under way until Saturday's four-game card, as the Las Vegas, St. Petersburg, Eagle and New Mexico bowls kick off the postseason festivities.

Officials at NationalChamps.net haven't let the wall-to-wall bowl season get in their way. The Web site came out this week with its first Top 25 poll of the 2009 season, and has OSU ranked No. 6.

Sixth? OSU hasn't been ranked that high since former coach Pat Jones took his No. 3 Cowboys to Norman on Nov. 24, 1984 to meet No. 2 Oklahoma, with a spot in the Orange Bowl and a shot at the national championship on the line.

NationalChamps.net isn't the only one that's getting a jump start on next season and already fallen in love with the Cowboys' potential.

Within hours after OU quarterback Sam Bradford became the 2008 Heisman Trophy winner last Saturday, several writers and Web sites had projected their 2009 Heisman favorites. I read at least four of those projections, and each one had two Cowboys in the Top 10 — quarterback Zac Robinson and wide receiver Dez Bryant.

The Top 10. Heisman Trophy candidates. That's pretty heady stuff for a program that stayed home for the holidays just four seasons ago. Since he didn't go bowling after a 4-7 finish in his rookie season in 2005, coach Mike Gundy has had the Cowboys climbing the bowl pecking order ever since.

OSU beat Alabama in the 2006 Independence Bowl, then laid waste to Indiana in the 2007 Insight Bowl. Now headed to one of the best of the nonmajor bowls, the Cowboys certainly seem on a collision course with a BCS bowl.

"This (bowl) game," junior cornerback Perrish Cox said Wednesday, "starts the next year for us. It's the first game of next season for the young guys."

Is the BCS in OSU's near future? Well, the Big 12's South Division race could almost be 2008 all over again if NationalChamps.net is on target. Its poll has Texas at No. 3 and OU No. 4, but Texas Tech is eight spots below OSU at No. 14.

If OU, Tech and Texas can tie at 11-1 and 7-1 this season, why can't something similar happen a season from now with OSU, OU and Texas? And if Bradford decides to head to the NFL, the South race could come down to the Cowboys and the Longhorns.

Speaking of the NFL, OSU's fortunes next season could get a tremendous boost if two Georgia underclassmen decide to leave school early. Junior quarterback Matthew Stafford and redshirt sophomore running back Knowshon Moreno are potential high first-round picks in next spring's draft if they turn pro.

OSU opens the 2009 campaign on Sept. 5 against Georgia at Boone Pickens Stadium. The challenge of taking on the Bulldogs won't seem nearly as daunting if Stafford and Moreno are playing in the NFL.

"I think they will have high expectations for themselves," Gundy said of the underclassmen on his team. "And that's the way we want it to be."

The so-called experts are high on the Cowboys because most of the players Gundy takes to San Diego will be in an OSU uniform again next season. And Gundy confirmed yesterday that more help is on the way when he released the names of four junior college players who will transfer to OSU in time to partake in spring practice.

Gundy, who is 2-0 in bowl games as a head coach, knows the importance of success in the Holiday Bowl. The Cowboys could head into the offseason loaded with optimism and momentum if they can defeat Oregon.

"Our expectations are to put a team on the field that has a chance to win every game," Gundy said. "Ultimately, we want to win a Big 12 championship."

On the last day of December, OSU fans everywhere will raise their glasses and make a toast that 2009 does indeed become the Year of the Cowboys.
By DAVE SITTLER World Sports Columnist

Newspaper View Newspaper View      Print this story Print      Email this story Email     
Share      Bookmark Bookmark


COMMENTS 
      Add your comment Show: Most Recent Comment First

8 comments have been made for this team so far. Tell us what you think below!
Report Comment Reporting Comments

If you see a comment that violates our terms and conditions, please help us by clicking the "Report this Comment" link next to a comment. That will alert the web staff to review the comment. Thank you.  -- Web Editor Jason Collington
 

 
Report Comment
Stomp, (12/18/2008 12:17:56 PM)
Got to love the optimism. Georgia game could really set the tone. Start at #6 with an opportunity to play a ranked team in Stillwater on the first weekend of the season. Of course, all of this optimism is based on the team we have this year...hopefully the chemistry will be similar to this year's team.
Report Comment
tulsaOUfan, Tulsa (12/18/2008 2:08:16 PM)
Poke battle cry:

There's always next year
Report Comment
OutPickMyNose, (12/18/2008 2:36:02 PM)
OU fan battle cry after losing to UT 3 of 4 years:

There is always next year.

Oh, wait, you went to the Big 12 title game? Oh. I guess that game doesn't really matter then.

Moving on...
Report Comment
MexiMike, tulsa (12/18/2008 4:10:55 PM)
That also seems to be OU's battle cry after each bowl game.

The schedule definitely favors OSU in a huge way as a bonus. 8 home games with all the tough ones (Texas, T-Tech, Georgia, Mizzou) besides OU. Then on the road before OU we have Baylor, Iowa State, and A&M. This can easily be a 10-2 season for the Pokes.
Report Comment
Dr. Strangelove, Tulsa (12/21/2008 7:11:22 AM)
Don't beat up on tulsaOUfan- that post was actually one of his more well-constructed diatribes- most of them just say BOOMER SOONER.
Report Comment
Arbythree, Tulsa (12/22/2008 10:33:38 AM)
They have not beat the ducks yet. BUT, I will offer my sincere good wishes to the Cowboys.

And I hope that they are ranked that high next year, but we need to get through Basketball season first.
Report Comment
Guillermo, (12/22/2008 11:28:49 PM)
I live in Oregon follow the Ducks
(not a Duck fan, but)and their defensive front is big and the secondary on the corners are fast.
They have a strong running game inside. QB okay.

It will be a real slugfest, the line play will dictate the outcome.

It will be a test for the Pokes, the 4th quarter should tell you who will win.
Report Comment
Kryptonite, Lowcash Oklahoma (12/25/2008 3:41:41 PM)
Gundy said. "Ultimately, we want to win a Big 12 championship." yeah, whatever Gundy.
 

 
Add Your Comment 
In order to post a comment on this article, you must sign in to Tulsaworld.com. If you do not have a site account, you can create an account for free.

 
Post Your Comment
 



Home | About Tulsa World | Advertise With Us | Privacy | Usage Agreement | FAQ and Help | Contact Us | Today's Headlines
Copyright © 2010, World Publishing Co. All rights reserved.