By Michael Bray
NORMAN, Okla.: With a 61-41 road win over Oklahoma State, Oklahoma (not Texas) is headed to the Big 12 Championship game with an inside track to the national title game by moving ahead of the Longhorns in the BCS standings Sunday.
Oklahoma is second in the BCS standings behind unbeaten Alabama. Texas is third, and Florida is fourth.
Oklahoma (11-1, 7-1) has a .9351 BCS average. Texas' BCS average is .9223.
The Sooners were behind Texas last week in the BCS standings by a tiny margin. The Sooners actually led the Longhorns in the polls, but a week ago the computers had Texas ahead of Oklahoma.
After the Sooners' victory Saturday night against Oklahoma State (14th in the latest standings) and the Longhorns' 49-9 win over lowly Texas A&M on Thanksgiving night, the polls tightened, but the computers flipped.
Oklahoma was a point ahead of Texas in the USA Today coaches' poll and six points behind the Longhorns in the Harris Interactive. The computer ratings preferred the Sooners and that made the difference.
"Going into the last couple of weeks, we knew that a good team was going to be left out of the Big 12 championship. Unfortunately, in this situation, it was us," Texas coach Mack Brown said in a statement.
"It is what it is. We don't like it, we don't agree with it or think it's fair, but, like anything else, we'll handle it and move forward."
After beating Oklahoma and jumping to No. 1 in the polls, Texas (11-1) lost at Texas Tech 39-33 on Nov. 1. The Red Raiders (11-1), No. 2 at the time, then lost at Oklahoma 65-21 on Nov. 22.
That created a three-way tie for first when all three teams won all the rest of their games.
The Big 12 then had to use its fifth tiebreaker, best BCS rating, to determine which team would play North winner Missouri on Saturday in Kansas City, Mo.
The Sooners barely edged the Longhorns, as the lopsided loss to Oklahoma dropped Texas Tech way back. The Red Raiders were seventh in Sunday's standings.
Despite Texas' "Remember 45-35" politicking, all through the last two weeks, Texas' victory against the Sooners in October wasn't enough to give the Longhorns the advantage in a three-way tie between the Red River rivals.
"That was very disappointing, because we had finished the season so strong and done so well against the two teams that are playing in the game," Texas quarterback Colt McCoy said.
"But, we had a great team meeting and Coach Brown pushed all of the positives with us, like he always does.
He told us that it was okay to be disappointed but after the meeting, it was time to move forward and be prepared to get ready for a big bowl game."
The irony of the situation though is that the Longhorns will be watching two teams they beat play for the conference title, rooting for Missouri.
"I don't think anyone's been comfortable with this," said Oklahoma coach Bob Stoops.
"All parts for the last couple or three weeks, it's been aggravating more than anything."
However, there is a small sliver of hope for Texas.
The winner of the Southeastern Conference championship game between the No. 1 Alabama Crimson Tide and the No. 4 Florida Gators is virtually guaranteed a spot in the BCS national title game on Jan. 8 in Miami.
Oklahoma would earn the other spot by beating Missouri.
However, If the Sooners should lose, it could open the door for Texas to go to the national title game, despite not playing for its conference championship.
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