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EL PASO, Texas — Oklahoma coach Bob Stoops thinks he has identified the reason so many of the Sooners' recent bowl trips have ended in futility.

"Playing other really good teams," Stoops said.

Going into Thursday's Sun Bowl against No. 19-ranked Stanford, Oklahoma has lost three consecutive bowl games and five of its last six. The ugly stretch includes three national championship defeats and five straight Bowl Championship Series losses.

"Florida wasn't any slouch last year," Stoops said. "In the end, if you're playing other championship teams, if you're not playing your best and/or they're hot, you're gonna lose. It'll be the same this year."

Stoops was in his second year at Oklahoma when he led the Sooners to the national championship in 2000. He once had the nickname "Big Game Bob."

But while the Sooners have won 30 consecutive games in Norman, they are 16-16 outside Oklahoma in the same stretch. Oklahoma's last bowl victory was at the end of a dismal 8-4 season, a 17-14 triumph over Oregon in the Holiday Bowl in 2005.

Still, Stoops has been rewarded. After winning his third consecutive Big 12 championship last year, Stoops got a raise and contract extension that will pay him $30.125 million over seven years. He has guided the Sooners to more BCS championship games (four) than anyone, though he's won only one of them.

In each BCS bowl defeat, Oklahoma's circumstances have varied.

In the 2004 Sugar Bowl, a 21-14 loss to LSU, Heisman-winning quarterback Jason White was playing hurt. In the 2005 Orange Bowl, a 55-19 loss to USC, perhaps many NFL-bound seniors had their minds too far in the future.

In the 2007 Fiesta Bowl, a 43-42 overtime loss to Boise State, quarterback Paul Thompson couldn't hang on to the football. In the 2008 Fiesta Bowl, a 48-28 loss to West Virginia, three defensive starters were lost before the game. And in the 2009 BCS title game, a 24-14 loss to Florida, the most prolific offense in NCAA history committed early red zone mistakes and a fourth-quarter turnover.

Stoops' common thread: All five opponents were remarkably talented. The combined record of those five at the end of those respective seasons was 63-4.

Copyright 2009 The Associated Press.