Bob Stoops, Mack Brown, and Mike Leach Ready Their Soapboxes

With Oklahoma's big win over Texas Tech Saturday night, we now have our Big 12 South nightmare. A three-way tie between Oklahoma, Texas, and Texas Tech, assuming all teams win out this Saturday, will be waiting on the BCS standings to decide who the winner is of the division and ultimately who could be representing the Big 12 in the national title game.

So with all three teams beating each other, it does take away an element of head to head competition. The Texas fans will say they beat Oklahoma. Well, the Oklahoma fans will say they beat Texas Tech who beat Texas, and then of course the Tech fans will say they beat the current number two team in the BCS in the Texas Longhorns.

So where do you start with this mess?

Well, you can bet your life that the next week Bob Stoops, Mack Brown, and Mike Leach will hop on their soapboxes and campaign as hard as they can to make the case that their team is the best of the three. Now it will be up to the voters to decide which team is the best when they all have the same record.

So if you are Stoops, Brown, or Leach, what do you say? How do you sell your team? Well, here are some key points I'd focus on if each were my team and how I would try to sell them to the voters as the best team in the Big 12 South.

If I'm Mack Brown...

I say my Texas team has the strongest strength of schedule of the three teams tied, and I'd also say that we beat the so-called hottest team in the nation right now, Oklahoma, 45-35 on a neutral field earlier in the season. The Longhorns can also brag about having the best total defense in the Big 12 right now and also the best rushing defense in the conference.

Another point of emphasis that Texas can talk about is how their only loss on the season is a six-point loss on the road to another 10-1 team, and that was on the last play of the game. Otherwise they are undefeated and number one in the country.

The Longhorns have already gotten passed in the polls by both Florida and Oklahoma, but they hold a slight edge in the computers. Texas needs to blow Texas A&M out of the water somehow, at least by as much as Oklahoma did, which was by 38 points, and hope for a close Oklahoma win or a loss to keep them from gaining on them.

If I'm Bob Stoops...

I say my Oklahoma team just dismantled the number two team in the nation by 44 points on national television. I'd say that we also have two quality non-conference wins over Cincinnati and TCU. Both were won by a combined 51 points, and one could be over the Big East champion in Cincinnati. The other two don't have any quality non-conference wins on their resume.

The Sooners have also beaten five conference opponents by 23 points or more and had better performances against Texas Tech and Texas A&M most likely than the Longhorns did. The biggest factor that the Sooners have going for them right now is they have a plus-34-point margin against Texas and Texas Tech, mainly because of their blowout of Tech. Nonetheless, it's better than the other two.

Oklahoma is sitting in a great spot. They have already jumped Texas in the polls and are only slightly behind them in the computers, but a win over No. 12 Oklahoma State could be exactly what they need to make the final push ahead of Texas for the tiebreaker.

Oklahoma doesn't need to blow the Cowboys out, but they do need an impressive win to make sure they hold their lead over the Longhorns in the polls. Any slip in the polls, even a few votes, could hurt their overall point total.

If I'm Mike Leach...

First, I try to get the nation to realize this should be a three-team debate and not a two-team one. The country has already dismissed the Red Raiders from the discussion despite them being tied with Texas and Oklahoma. Yes, the Red Raiders got blasted, but they still only have one loss and did beat the current number two team in the country.

They also beat a quality Kansas team by 42 points, more than either Texas or Oklahoma could, and they beat a good Oklahoma State team by 36 points, most likely more than Oklahoma will this Saturday.

Leach needs to stress the fact that they have two Heisman candidates and can play with anyone in the nation given the chance. It's an uphill battle for Leach because he's battling the prestige of Texas and Oklahoma, and Texas Tech just doesn't have the tradition to match it, so he needs to make the voters focus on something else. A giant blowout of Baylor sure would help though.

So just when you think the campaign season is over, we get the Big 12 South. Let's not make any mistake—this is a campaign all the way. All three of these teams will most likely win their games. Oklahoma has the toughest test, but it would be an upset for sure if the Sooners lost that game.

So who will make the best case? We'll find out for sure next Sunday when the voters make their choice. This all sounds too familiar really, and to be honest, I can do without another campaign, but that's exactly what we have.