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Sooners Headed To KC For Big 12 Title Game
Win Over OSU Enough To Boost OU Into No. 2 BCS Slot
By Spectator Staff
(2008-11-30)
The shameless Mack Brown campaign is complete. The non-stop media infomercial for Texas is finished. And best of all, the wait is over.
Two-time defending champion Oklahoma is headed back to the Big 12 title game with a chance to win an unprecedented third straight conference crown. The news came Sunday afternoon via the release of the latest BCS standings, which saw the Sooners jump over Texas into second place.
Bob Stoops’ OU squad finished the regular season tied with the Longhorns and Texas Tech for the South Division lead, and in the case of a three-way tie, the division representative is determined by which team is ranked highest in the BCS standings.
By virtue of its 65-21 victory over then-No. 2 Texas Tech last week and a 61-41 thumping of No. 12 Oklahoma State on Saturday night, the Sooners were able to improve their computer rankings enough to slide past Texas by the slimmest of margins -- .935 to .922.
Oklahoma will meet No. 17 Missouri for the Big 12 title in Kansas City this coming Saturday night, Dec. 6, at 7 p.m. OU beat the Tigers 38-17 in the 2007 Big 12 Championship game.
Texas went into Thanksgiving week sitting in the No. 2 spot in the BCS standings, and recorded a solid 49-9 win over hapless Texas A&M. With Texas’ coach lobbying for votes every few minutes thanks to CBS and ESPN phone calls, OU needed to win impressively over OSU in Stillwater, a feat no other team had accomplished all season.
The Sooners responded by rolling up 60-plus points for the fourth straight game.
When all the votes were tallied on Sunday, the polls were divided.
In the USA Today/Coaches’ poll, Oklahoma remained in the No. 2 slot over third-ranked Texas, but only by the slimmest of margins -- a single point. In the Harris poll, OU actually lost two first-place votes and fell to fourth behind No. 3 Texas. Alabama remained No. 1 and Florida was second.
The Bowl Championship Series standings consists of three major components, including the USA Today poll, the Harris poll and a number of computer rankings, each of which makes up one third of the determining formula.
OU made up most of its ground in the computer rankings, where the Sooners jumped to No. 1 after being ranked No. 3 last week. The games against Texas Tech and Oklahoma State moved OU’s strength of schedule from No. 4 to No. 1 in the country, and the wins over those two highly-rated teams obviously played heavily into the overall scope of things.
BCS standings link...
http://www.sportsline.com/collegefootball/polls/bcs
OU Ticket Note--
The University Of Oklahoma Athletics Department has announced tickets for the Dr Pepper Big 12 Football Championship will go on sale to the general public online immediately at SoonerSports.com.
The Athletics Ticket office will have limited phone sales from 5 – 7 p.m. this evening. Phone sales will resume at 8 a.m., Monday, Dec. 1, by calling (800) 456-GoOU or (405) 325-2424.
All tickets are $75 each. Orders will be processed on a first-come, first-served basis and tickets are subject to availability. All orders prior to 11 a.m., Monday will be sent overnight via UPS. Those interested in purchasing tickets are encouraged to do so early as heavy demand is expected.
The Sooners will play Big 12 North Division champion Missouri on Saturday, Dec. 6 at Arrowhead Stadium in Kansas City, Mo. Kickoff is set for 7 p.m.
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