The BCS rankings are out. Lo and behold, the Sooners are the No. 1 team in the nation, but their supremacy is up for debate.
OU is undefeated at 6-0 and has beaten two top-25 programs. It boasts an offense that averages 458.3 yards of total offense per game and a defense allowing less than 20 points per game.
OU is equipped with a three-headed monster on offense: sophomore quarterback Landry Jones, junior wide receiver Ryan Broyles and senior running back DeMarco Murray.
On defense, redshirt freshman linebacker Tom Wort and junior linebacker Travis Lewis have been a revelation. The two have combined for 96 tackles and three sacks.
There is no question this is a good OU football team, but good doesn’t necessarily translate to great.
OU had close wins over Utah State and Cincinnati. Both teams will be hard pressed to become bowl eligible.
The Sooners are helped as much as any Southeastern Conference, Big Ten, Atlantic Coastal Conference, Big East or Pac-10 team by playing in the Big 12.
The Sooners are privy to a level of respect from the BCS that other unbeaten teams like TCU and Boise State may never obtain.
Last season, Boise State entered the BCS rankings undefeated as the No. 4 team in the country. It finished the season undefeated, but finished sixth in the BCS rankings behind one-loss Texas and one-loss Florida.
The Sooners are benefiting from a slanted BCS system that only makes the rich richer. OU jumped from No. 3 in the AP poll to No. 1 in the BCS through a shoddy computer ranking system and biased pollsters who admittedly do not have time to watch every team.
The BCS rankings formula includes six computer programs, including one made by native Oklahoman Richard Billingsley that doesn’t even have Missouri in the top 25. Yes, Billingsley’s rankings don’t have those same undefeated Missouri Tigers who are ranked No. 11 in the BCS rankings.
However, the BCS has put OU in a precarious position for the rest of the season: the driver’s seat.
If the Sooners win their remaining six regular season games and the Big 12 championship, the BCS has assured them a spot in the national title game.
However, if they lose just one, they have opened themselves up for criticism and ridicule and will have to put aside their national title aspirations.
Since the BCS’ inaugural season in 1998, the team that has started out atop the rankings has played in the national title game six times and won it just twice. No, pressure Stoops.
—RJ Young, journalism grad student
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shavedmarmoset 1 year, 7 months ago
"OU jumped from No. 3 in the AP poll to No. 1 in the BCS through a shoddy computer ranking system and biased pollsters who admittedly do not have time to watch every team."
The AP poll is not part of the BCS formula, so why mention it? The Sooners jumped to No. 1 in the BCS IN SPITE of human voters, NOT because of them. In the two human polls that go into the BCS formula, OU was ranked 3 (USA Today) and 4 (Harris). Only the computers want OU ranked so high. Please get the facts right.
That said, you make a good point that the BCS championship is there for the taking. The pressure is mounting!