BCS Championship 2012: Oklahoma State Deserve Consideration after Fiesta Bowl

They came, they saw, they conquered.

Against the No. 4 Stanford Cardinal and all the hype surrounding the potential No. 1 draft pick in QB Andrew Luck, the Oklahoma State Cowboys proved their worth and came out on top in the Tostitos Fiesta Bowl.

For the majority of this season, if not the entirety of it, it was teams like the LSU Tigers, Alabama Crimson Tide, Stanford and even the Oklahoma Sooners that took the national spotlight by storm.

There's no shortage of respect for these teams nor a reason why these teams don't deserve the credit and recognition they had received throughout the course of the season. Make no mistake about it.

Yet, at the end of the day, it was the Cowboys that proved Oklahoma State deserved to not only be in the same breath as these teams, but that they were arguably just as good or better than each of them.

In a season where QB Brandon Weeden would slip deep under the radar, he would quietly help lead the Cowboys to the second-best passing offense in the nation. The 4,727 yards were the second-most in the nation, while his 37 touchdowns ranked fourth.

Both marks were just as good or better than both 2011 Heisman winner Robert Griffin III and Stanford QB Luck. The 28-year-old late-bloomer was quietly putting forth one of the more solid seasons of any quarterback in the nation.

To finish off what was a stellar season for Weeden, he would finish with a 399-yard, three-touchdown performance to lead the Cowboys to a 12-1 season. This was done against Luck, who threw for less yards, just two touchdowns and an interception.

This season, the Cowboys have also gotten it done against some of the more solidly ranked opponents in the country. Winning all five games against ranked teams, the Cowboys feature wins over Texas A&M, Texas, Kansas State, Oklahoma and Stanford.

Three of the five wins were against top-10 opponents, while the Oklahoma victory was a 44-10 blowout in a game many thought the team's luck would end.

Despite finishing No. 3 in the nation and just edging out the Cardinal, the Cowboys featured arguably the best offense in the nation and boasted as many quality wins as any team in football.

There's no question this is a team that deserves a BCS championship consideration after putting forth the type of complete, dominant season this team has.