Oklahoma Sooners Take Shots at Rivals Oklahoma State, Texas
Yesterday, the Oklahoma Sooners hosted a pro day for the departing seniors to display their talents to NFL scouts. However, the biggest headline came not from the players' performance, but from the words head coach Bob Stoops shared.
Upon showing several people in attendance the new addition to the Everest Training Facility, Stoops remarked, "You see we got another championship banner up? It’s not a South Division one, either."
The remark took a shot at conference rivals Oklahoma State and Texas, both of whom have claimed division titles in the past three seasons when Oklahoma won the overall conference title.
Last week, pictures of Oklahoma State's South division champion rings were revealed, including this one from the hand of quarterback Brandon Weeden.
Oklahoma State and Texas A&M tied for the division lead with Oklahoma, but the Sooners advanced to the title game as the South's representative based on the tiebreaker rules set out by the conference.
In 2008, Texas added 2008 to their list of South division titles displayed in their indoor training facility as well as "2008*" to their list of Big 12 titles. The "2008*" was later removed.
You may find that arrogant on Stoops part, but it's very far from that.
The rules are there for a reason and all Oklahoma did was play by the rules. Oklahoma State especially has no beef because the Sooners beat the Cowboys on the field—in Stillwater for that matter—in one of the best games of the year.
Texas really did have an argument in 2008, but their problem wasn't with Oklahoma, rather, the tiebreaker rules the conference set down at its formation.
Of course, when the opportunity came to change the rules at the annual coaches meeting the next year, Mack Brown didn't even attend—nothing was achieved.
Claiming a division title is totally fine, but rewarding for it seems a little tacky. Especially getting rings.
Oklahoma doesn't celebrate division titles, only conference titles, although they are almost synonymous for the Sooners. They have only lost one conference title game in eight attempts.
