Oklahoma football coach Bob Stoops recently told reporteres he's not sure that scheduling big time non-conference opponents is to his team's benefit, despite the fact that OU has become almost notorius for playing marquee teams prior to the Big 12 regular season.
Interesting. It seemed in 2008, all Stoops could talk about leading up to the Big 12 three way tie breaker was the great schedule his Sooners had tromped through, and why playing the tougher compeitition meant voters should turn out in droves for his Sooners over Texas or Texas Tech in the Harris and Coaches poll. They did and this led to OU's place in the Big 12 and BCS title games. Now, in 2010, Stoops doesn't think strength of schedule matters?
"I don't know how much it advantages you. In the end, it all gets to down to if you lose of those (marquee) games by a point, and someone else plays for teams that are easy and you have one more than they do, they;'re gonna be ranked ahead of you....Most of you guys (media) rank them by who's lost and who hasn't, and forget about who plays who."
Stoops may be right, to some extent, but the drastic turn around in his opinion comes at a funny time, considering last year's 1 point losses to non-conference foes Miami and BYU. Big Game Bob is feeling the pressure from some angles in Norman that he's lost his mojo, especially after so many BCS busts and his recent struggles against Texas (just 1 win in 5 years). Perhaps this is his way of shifting the blame from poor performances in 2009 to his scheduler, the same scheduler who he touted on high in '08 for helping his team jump Texas in the BCS standings.
According to Bob, it seems unfair that a team would be jumped by someone else who played inferior competition, but didn't lose. How about being jumped by a team that beat you by 10 points on a neutral field? Comments like these should remind Texas fans how lucky they are to have a coach like Mack Brown, who for the most part is able represent his program and his university with class and dignity, and not come off sounding like a 2 year old who didn't get cookies after dinner.
The fact is, the AP voters to whom Stoops was lecturing aren't even factors in the BCS standings. Computers, coaches, and Harris poll voters determine who plays for the crystal ball, so if I were Stoops, I'd worry about fixing a defense that has deteriorated since his brother Mike went to Arizona, an offensive line that coulnd't block Mugsey Bogues shooting a free thrown, and a Texas problem that may eventually have Stoops wishing he'd gone to Notre Dame, than worrying about who his AD thinks his team should play each year.
Texas v. Notre Dame
Reports indicate the Texas football team, in an attempt to beef up future strength of schedules, will look into getting more marquee matchups. The biggest name out there right now is Notre Dame. Marquee? You bet. Helping the strength of schedule? Um, no. The Irish (no longer deserving of Fighting) are 16-21 over the last 3 seasons, and while new coach Brian Kelly may eventually build a winner, I don't see a Texas vs. Notre Dame matchup being a contest with 2 highly ranked teams.
The good news for Texas? At least the media always thinks Notre Dame is good. So if the game can be scheduled early in the season, the Horns might be able to change the recent perception they've earned of not playing the "big boys".
Is Notre Dame a "big boy" still? Well, does Nickelback belong in the Rock n Roll Hall of Fame? Hardly. But I'm pretty sure ESPN and college football analysts' favorite song includes "Rockstar".
Brett Favre Retires. Or doesn't
Duh. Just avoiding pre-season camp.
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