Oklahoma Football: Top Five Reasons They're Overrated in Preseason Polls

The preseason polls have been released and the University of Oklahoma comes in ranked at No. 7 and No. 8, respectively, by the AP and Coaches. One writer even gave OU a lone first place vote.

The Sooners are coming off an 8-5 season in which their biggest play was a down-field tackle by a fullback. This tackle resulted in a fumble recovery and allowed them to preserve a 27-0 shutout of their in-state rivals, the OSU Cowboys.

Sure, that loss in Norman prevented the Cowboys from making their first ever BCS bowl game, but it's not like it gave that spot to OU.

Oklahoma was out contention for a return to the BCS Championship Game by the fourth week of the season, losing by one point at Miami. By the sixth game loss to Texas, they were out of the Big 12 chase, also.

Making a BCS bowl was a pipe dream by the middle of the season. Any hope for a Cotton or Holliday Bowl bid was put down like a mad dog loose on Main Street after getting "pantsed" in Lubbock.

No, for OU last year, it was off to the Sun Bowl in El Paso. That's El Paso, Texas in case you were wondering, where, on the average day, the heat reaches the same temperature as the self-clean setting on your oven.

Quick, someone name the last three winners of the Sun Bowl before Oklahoma. Don't feel bad, I couldn't do it either.

So why are the Sooners ranked so high considering for most of last year they were a train wreck outside of Norman? I don't know.

The football team can claim numerous national championships, conference titles and bowl victories, unanimous All-Americans and five Heisman Trophy winners. Oklahoma may have winning streaks and scoring records but they still lost five games last year.

Sure, they have history and tradition on their side, but, come on, what have you done for me lately?

I now present to you the Five Biggest Reasons Oklahoma is Overrated.

1. They Always Choke in Big Games

Everybody knows OU has lost their last five BCS games. Any team that is 0 and five in their last BCS bowls could not possibly be one of the top eight teams in the country.

Sure they have won six of seven Big 12 Championship games and defeated numerous ranked opponents to get into BCS position, but those aren't Big Games. These so called "Big Games" are counted only if Oklahoma loses.

2. They Can't Play Defense in the Big 12

Everybody knows the Big 12 is all about offense. Defense is an afterthought, if they think of it at all.

OU does not have a single scholarship player on the defensive side of the ball.

They scout the local all-you-can-eat lunch buffets in Norman to find D-linemen.

The linebackers all came from the university's intramural rugby club.

Defensive back positions are awarded minutes before each game with a drawing-of-the-straws contest by student lottery winners.

3. Oklahoma Runs the Spread Offense and Doesn't Have a Running Game

After setting numerous offensive records in 2008, Oklahoma averaged less than four yards a carry last season as their new offensive line struggled to block anybody.

A typical OU practice is two full hours of throwing the ball to Ryan Broyles while the rest of the team watches. Towards the end, they might practice a couple of handoffs to Demarco Murray, just to wake him up.

Somehow Oklahoma continues to trick highly-regarded running backs into coming to Norman with deceiving highlights of a multiple-formation, pro-style offense.

In reality, every play is run from a no-back shotgun look with five wide receivers.

Adrian Peterson left early because he only got twenty-seven carries in his three years on the team.

4. The Sooners Lost Four First Round Picks in the NFL Draft

It's true, OU produced three of the top four players taken in this years draft. They had another first rounder go at No. 21 overall. This is a rebuilding year.

Okay, so one of those draft picks didn't play and another hardly at all because of injury.

Oklahoma is a small state and the school does not have the bodies to replace these players. It's not like they have a huge pool of talent close by they can raid every year for some of the top prospects in the country.

Heck, Coach Venables called me last week about coming to Norman but I had already signed up for my church league flag-football team.

No, the Sooners are going to be starting walk-ons and sorority girls simply because it's a numbers thing.

5. Oklahoma Sucks and Bob Stoops is Horrible

Again, we have to go back to that 0-for-the-last-five in BCS games. Coach Stoops is one-for-three in the BCS Title game over the last ten years.

In a 10 year span, at the end of the season, he may have gotten his teams into one of the Top Two spots four times, but he lost to the national champion three times.

For most schools, getting into the championship game even once by finishing the regular season in the top two out of 120 teams would seem like a major accomplishment. Particularly if your team was in that position much more frequently than anyone else, like, say, around 40 percent of the time.

However, at Oklahoma, this just proves that you suck.

I mean, really, losing by seven points in Louisiana to LSU? Losing to Florida by 10 points in Florida?

Sure, if maybe one play in each game had gone differently, Oklahoma might be 3-1 in title games. This just goes to show how awful Stoops must be.

If Bob Stoops isn't well known for being such a horrible coach, why do his teams have more weeks at the top spot and in the top five of the BCS rankings than anyone else? Answer me that, Mr. Smarty Pants.

I could point to numerous other reasons to prove my point but why rub it in?

I have proven beyond a shadow of a doubt that Oklahoma is so far overrated, there should be a Congressional investigation launched immediately.

This is obviously some sort of vast conspiracy, possibly reaching as high as heaven itself.—after all, Oklahoma is the buckle on the Bible-belt.

We all know how powerful the state of Oklahoma is nationally and the respect the people of that state get from the media. They must be using this superior position to manipulate something as important to our country as preseason football rankings.

I for one am willing to stand up and shout, "No Oklahoma! I will not stand by as you corrupt democracy and the American Way!"

Ranking the Oklahoma Sooners in the Top Eight is a travesty and they cannot be allowed to get away with this.

I have a pitchfork. If anyone has a torch, I say we meet in Norman and put a stop to this now before it is too late.