Oklahoma Shouldn't Be Ranked As the No. 4 Team in the Nation

Cody Dockens by Scribe Written on October 23, 2008
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The Texas Longhorns are the consensus No. 1 pick in the nation, this coming after beating the Oklahoma Sooners, who were ranked No. 1 almost two weeks ago, in the Red River Shootout.

The first BCS standings were released earlier this week, and the Sooners were No. 4. To some people that seems a little generous. Even in the polls before the BCS standings were released, Oklahoma only fell three spots, four at the most.

Oklahoma lost to Texas and gave up 45 points—yet fell three spots. There is a problem with that.

A few weeks before losing to Texas, Oklahoma beat No. 24 TCU. After the loss Oklahoma went on to soundly defeat No. 16 Kansas.

Now you probably find yourself wondering why I have a problem with Oklahoma being No. 4.

My problem is Oklahoma should be No. 2. Yes, No. 2.

The Sooners played Texas a heck of a game. They led the Longhorns by a point at the half in a game that was clearly even.

In the first half, both offenses were firing on all cylinders. The only sputter was when Sam Bradford's pass was intercepted by Texas safety Earl Thomas. With the stout rushing defense of the Longhorns holding the Sooners to just 48 rushing yards, Sam Bradford was forced to carry the offense on his play alone.

Bradford did great under the pressure. Sure, he threw two interceptions, but one was meaningless at the end of the game, a last-ditch effort. The other interception was caused by the stellar defensive play calling of Will Muschamp.

When you throw the ball 39 times in a game, you are bound to make at least one mistake, and when your rushing game is shut down and your offense is one-dimensional, you are almost certain to make several mistakes. Bradford threw for well over 300 yards and five touchdowns and did a great job carrying the offense.

The game was can be pretty well summarized by three plays: Texas' successful fake punt, OU's fake punt that was stopped just inches short of a first down, and a dropped INT by the Sooners in the end zone.

What the game came down to was who caught the breaks. Fake punts are hit and miss, and the Sooners barely missed, while the Longhorns were successful.

Now don't get me wrong—I'm not taking anything away from Texas. I simply mean the teams are that close in skill, talent, and most every aspect.

When you have two of the best quarterbacks in the NCAA on the same field, it is almost guaranteed to be a shootout, so it is difficult to criticize either team's defense.

All that being said, it wasn't how Oklahoma played Texas that opened my eyes to just how good they really were. It was the way they went home the next weekend and took care of business against a talented Kansas team. The Sooners never trailed against Kansas, and Bradford played remarkably well.

Oklahoma and Texas both have defenses ranking in the top 40, far better than any other team in the Big 12. If Oklahoma can put up the kind of numbers they did on Texas, they should have no problem dominating other opponents.

The same goes for Texas. OU has the best defense in the Big 12. If you can score 45 against the best, you should have no problem against the rest.

OU's offense ranks fourth in the nation and Texas' offense ranks 10th. Neither of these teams struggles to put points on the board. Maybe instead of saying Texas or Oklahoma allowed the other to score 35 or 45 points, we should be saying they held each other to 35 or 45 points.

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Vote Now! - Author Poll

Where should Oklahoma be ranked?

  • 1
  • 2
  • 3
  • 4
  • 5
  • 6 or lower
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Results - Author Poll

Where should Oklahoma be ranked?

  • 1

    5.8%
  • 2

    58.1%
  • 3

    10.3%
  • 4

    11.2%
  • 5

    2.4%
  • 6 or lower

    12.2%
  • Total votes: 329
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written on October 23, 2008 Opinion

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