Big 12 Football: Has Everyone Forgotten About The Oklahoma Sooners?

As Keith Jackson would say, "Whoa, Nelly." And Lee Corso might even get in a "Not so fast, my friend" if he started to read all the fodder about the chances of no other team but one from the SEC winning the BCS title.

Did everybody forget about Oklahoma?

The Big 12 looks to be the toughest conference in the country—sorry, SEC fans. Oklahoma, Texas Tech, Texas, Mizzou, Kansas and yes, even Nebraska all have shots at the conference crown.

While the SEC has Florida, Georgia, Tennessee, Auburn and LSU as potential title contenders, some of their schedules are just brutal. See Georgia's if you want to get some goosebumps.

And unless Florida gets some serious pass defense, it's going to be another strange year of lots of offense but porous pass defense. Tennessee has potential, but aren't they really a lot like Cal? Lots of good press, but can't quite get over that BCS title game hurdle in the last few years. LSU has a good shot, but wasn't that based a lot on the arm of Ryan Perrilloux?

Oklahoma, on the other hand, has quietly taken a little bit of a back seat to all the love the SEC has been getting. And it's just perfect.

Too often in the last five years, Bob Stoops' teams have come up short. Except for a Holiday Bowl win over Oregon (17-14) in 2005, the Sooners have lost in a Sugar, Orange and Fiesta Bowl (twice), including a waxing by USC (55-19, 2005 Orange Bowl) and West Virginia (48-28, 2008 Fiesta Bowl). That starts to sting after a while.

While the National Championship expectations are always there in Norman, so far, it's been quiet. Eerily quiet. Like the calm before the storm.

This year, phenom quarterback Sam Bradford returns with a most impressive resume. With a 176.52 QB rating, 36-8 pass ratio and almost 70 percent completions, this guy is a one-man wrecking crew. Yeah, he should be a Heisman front-runner.

Barring any sophomore slump, Bradford should be ready for the Red River Shootout after five games under his belt. RB DeMarco Murray, who led the team's rushes with an average 6 yards per carry until he went down with an injury, looks ready to pick up where he left off last season.

The only concern on the offense is losing their No. 2 all-time receiving leader in Malcom Kelly, but they do return an incredible TE Jermaine Gresham as well as WR Juaquin Iglesias. They just reload here, not rebuild.

The O-line looks just scary. This unit only gave up 14 sacks last year, and everybody with at least a half a year's starts is back.

Yep, you don't need to ask, "Where's the beef?" Duke Robinson (OG) stands 6-foot-5 and weighs 330 pounds. He is considered the best guard in the country by many pundits. His good buddy Phil Loadholt (OT) is 6-foot-8 and 350 pounds. Phil Steele ranks this line as No. 1 in the country.

So are there any problems? Not really. Remember, when Jason White left, there was concern over QB, and Rhett Bomar and Paul Thompson all performed well, despite some NCAA violations marring the program.

The D-line returns eight with starting experience, losing only DE Alonzo Dotson and a DT who started one game last year. The linebacker unit suffered some losses, and Stoops had to fill in some holes with JUCOs, but there is still experience there.

The only real concern is the secondary. Two cornerbacks that started all last season and SS DJ Wolfe—who made the second team Big 12—are gone. It is this one area of concern that will be the reason why they lose to Texas Tech on Nov. 22 for their only loss.

Harrell and Crabtree will eat their DBs alive. It may not be close. But one loss should be enough to get them in the conference championship against Mizzou, most likely. And Oklahoma is still Mizzou's daddy.

The Sooners' schedule is what dreams are made of. After a cupcake Chattanooga season-opener, the Sooners host Cincy and then travel to Seattle to play the Huskies. After a bye and a smothering win over TCU, it's time for some conference play.

The Sooners' road games are at Baylor, K-State, Texas A&M and Oklahoma State. They host Kansas, Nebraska and Texas Tech, and have the neutral site for Texas. The good news is no Colorado.

If they can beat Texas on Oct. 11, then it's only Kansas or Texas Tech standing in their way. I'll bet on Tech being the roadblock.

Remember, Kansas didn't play Oklahoma last year in route to their magical ride through the Big 12. In fact, they really didn't play anyone.

They barely beat a No. 24 K-State, and the only other ranked team they faced, No. 3 Mizzou, they lost to, 36-28. Kansas will have no such scheduling luck this year.

The Jayhawks play at Oklahoma, then host Texas Tech and K-State before traveling to Lincoln and then coming back home for Texas, and then Mizzou. They'll be lucky to get seven or eight wins this year.

But back to Sooner mania. So what is the only stumbling block besides Texas Tech?

How about their head coach? Stoops is one of the elite coaches in the nation. But what has he done with that in the last five years? One Holiday Bowl win, and four BCS Bowl losses, two by blowouts.

Not acceptable in Norman, Okla.

While no one is questioning Stoops' coaching skills, one could possibly question his bowl preparation skills. His teams have not played well postseason, despite being in the national spotlight seemingly every year. Moreover, most of the Sooners' bowl problems seem to be on the defensive side of the ball.

Coincidentally, the year Bob's little brother DC Mike Stoops was hired as the Arizona Wildcats' head coach was right about the time that the Sooners' D went somewhat south.

When Mike Stoops was in his last year as DC (2003), the Sooners gave up 146 yards in passing vs. last year's 228 yards. The D's opponents averaged a 52 percent pass completion in 2003 vs. last year's 60.3 percent. The Sooners gave up an average 15.3 points per game in 2003 vs. 20.3 last year.

Finally, the turnover margin suffered the most: 2002 was +19, 2003 was +17. After Mike Stoops left, 2004 was +4, 2005 was -1, 2006 was -1 and then +8 last year.

The Sooners' defense against the Texas Tech Red Raiders is the difference between undefeated and a one-loss season. Barring a mild upset by the Texas Longhorns, the Sooners have all the planets aligned this year to make their run for the BCS National Championship.

The question is, will Bob Stoops finally overcome a five-year drought (by Oklahoma standards) and win it all?

Let's just say his chances are as good as Oklahoma ever landing an NBA franchise team.

Boomer Sooner!