If They're Chokelahoma, What Does That Make You?!

Everyone’s heard those incredibly funny nicknames that have labeled the Sooners over the last few years—chokelahoma, jokelahoma, mobilehoma—and by looking at recent history, they’ve all been earned. 

There was even more laughing and pointing at Sooners' expense during the recent expansion talk.  Is Oklahoma really that willing to sit back and allow the rest of the Nation to poke fun at them? Or are they just content with the facts that they're elite, winning is cyclical, and they couldn‘t care less about what the Nation thinks.

Folks outside the Oklahoma program have no problem labeling OU as a team that can’t win the big game anymore because of their less-than-stellar bowl record. But actually, only 4 other schools in NCAA history have more bowl wins than Oklahoma.  If not for Oklahoma's recent bowl skid, Texas would never have tied Oklahoma in bowl wins. 

Those in the know around the OU program aren’t overly concerned about their recent bowl blunder. They don’t like it, but you won't find them in a panic over it either.

Looking back at all the games that Oklahoma lost, the USC matchup was the only one that was never a contest.  The LSU and Florida national championship games both could have gone either way, and both of which were played in LSU and Florida’s back yards. They were basically home games for them.   

The loss to Boise State just had to happen.  As much as the Sooner fans hated to see it, they do take pride in the fact that if, let's say, Arkansas had lost to Boise State, the loss wouldn’t have been as monumental of an upset. 

The largest feather in the Boise State cap is and always will be, Sooner Red. It was a horrible moment in Sooner history, but undeniable for college football.  Sooner fans also appreciated that they weren’t treated like the Alabama fans in their game against Utah.

There was really no motivation for the West Virginia game, and it didn’t appear the Sooners were too excited about playing in Arizona again either.  And not simply because of the loss a year prior to Boise, but because no team wants to play the same Bowl game year after year. The kids were bored, bottom line.

So while you’re laughing and pointing at Oklahoma, keep in mind that the Sooners are merely continuing their dominance in the college game.  They know winning is cyclical.  They know you can’t win a national championship every year.  They know they will win more national championships.  They know they stand on their own as a program and look up to nobody.

They also know that if Oklahoma had left the Big 12 a couple months ago, that it would have had the same effect on the conference as if it were Texas that had left. The numbers seem to be backing up these claims as well.

 Victories, 1945-

 1. Oklahoma          560
 2. Texas               536
 3. Alabama            535
 4. Penn State        530
 5. Ohio State        523
 6. Nebraska          520
 7. Southern Cal     508
 8. Michigan           505
     Tennessee        505
 10. Notre Dame     490

 
 Winning Percentage, 1945-

 1. Oklahoma          .7573 (560-175-13)
 2. Ohio State        .7485 (523-169-20)
 3. Penn State        .7362 (530-187-9)
 4. Texas               .7258 (536-199-11)
 5. Michigan           .7157 (505-196-15)
 6. Alabama           .7152 (535-207-20)
 7. Southern Cal     .7001 (508-211-23)
 8. Nebraska          .7000 (520-220-10)
 9. Tennessee        .6905 (505-220-23)
 10. Notre Dame     .6912 (490-215-14)

     
 Weeks Ranked No. 1 in AP Poll

 1. Oklahoma           97
 2. Notre Dame        95
 3. Ohio State         93
 4. Southern Cal      90
 5. Nebraska           70
 6. Miami (Fla.)       68
 7. Florida State      60
 8. Texas              45
 9. Florida             41
 10. Alabama         39

 
 Weeks Ranked Top 5 in AP Poll

 1. Oklahoma          370
 2. Ohio State        302
 3. Nebraska          295
 4. Notre Dame       277
 5. Michigan           273
     Southern Cal     273
 7. Alabama           270
 8. Texas              265
 9. Florida State     206
 10. Miami (Fla.)     202

     
 Weeks Ranked No. 1 in BCS

 1. Oklahoma        19
 2. Ohio State      15
     USC              15
 4. Florida             7
     Florida State     7
     Miami (Fla.)      7
 7. Alabama          6
 8. Nebraska         5
     Tennessee      5
 10. Texas           3

 
 Weeks Ranked Top 5 in BCS

 1. Oklahoma          45
 2. USC                 37
 3. Texas              36
 4. Florida             34
 5. Ohio State       33
 6. Miami (Fla.)      30
 7. Florida State    25
 8. Alabama          21
 9. Virginia Tech    20
 10. LSU              17

     
 Consensus All-Americans, 1945-

 1. Oklahoma         72
 2. Notre Dame      69
 3. Southern Cal     66
 4. Ohio State        62
 5. Texas              53
 6. Michigan          48
     Nebraska         48
 8. UCLA              38
 9. Miami             35
 10. Penn State    34

 
 Unanimous All-Americans (All-Time)

 1. Oklahoma        31
     Notre Dame     31
 3. Ohio State       29
 4. Southern Cal    26
 5. Michigan         25
 6. Texas            22
 7. Nebraska       20
 8. Alabama        18
 9. Miami            15
 10. Pittsburgh    13

     
 AP National Titles (Last)

 1. Notre Dame       8 (1988)
 2. Oklahoma          7 (2000)
     Alabama           7 (2009)
 4. Miami               5 (2001)
     Southern Cal     5 (2004)
 6. Minnesota         4 (1960)
     Nebraska          4 (1995)
     Ohio State        4 (2002)
 9. Florida              3 (2008)
     Texas              3 (2005)

 
 NCAA-Recognized Titles, 1945-

 1. Oklahoma             16
 2. Notre Dame          13
 3. Alabama              12
     Ohio State          12
     Southern Cal        2
 6. Nebraska            11
 7. Miami                  9
 8. Texas                 7
     Florida State       7
 10. Michigan           6
       Michigan State  6


Source - NCAA Record Book

Boomer Sooner Baby!!