Stoops looks for balance OU coach downplays schedule strength, but still faces top programs Stoops looks for balance OU coach downplays schedule strength, but still faces top programs
Bob Stoops is typically an actions-speak-louder-than-words kind of guy.
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The announcement last week that Stoops' Sooners and the Notre Dame Fighting Irish will meet on the football field in 2012 and 2013 is just more proof of it.
Strength of schedule is something Stoops likes to talk about — and did so again last Monday at Big 12 media days in San Antonio.
"I feel that strength of schedule has been diminished and doesn't carry the weight that it used to,” he said. "Therefore, there's not as much incentive to have these exciting games early in the year.”
While his premise is a little off, his motive is not.
No, strength of schedule is not an individual component in the BCS equation anymore. But it still plays its part sufficiently.
The computer ranking systems factor in schedule strength. So do many of the voters in the human polls.
Is it as much of a factor as it used to be? It's impossible to say.
And the answer is irrelevant — to Stoops and OU athletics director Joe Castiglione, anyway.
Stoops doesn't believe schedule strength is a big enough part of the equation, yet he and Castiglione continue to add big-name programs to the schedule more than a decade in advance.
Florida State, Notre Dame, Tennessee.
LSU in 2019? Stoops' sons might be his coordinators by the time that game actually gets played. But Stoops keeps lining up big games. At least one a year, along with a mid-level team, like Tulsa or Cincinnati, and a cupcake or two.
"We've always been that way,” Stoops said. "We like to have exciting matchups early in the year for our fans and for college football and just for overall recognition of the league as well.”
The Sooners have been a little lucky — or unlucky if you're talking about strength of schedule — in facing some of those teams in a cyclical swoon.
Alabama was struggling in the 2001 and 2002 seasons when OU beat the Tide. Same with Washington last year, and it appears to be the same with Miami this year.
But at least Stoops is trying. He isn't waiting for the BCS to put schedule strength back in the formula. And he wishes other programs would follow his philosophy.
"I've said that every year,” he said. "Maybe you just need to have inter-conference (series). We're just gonna draw from a hat and we're all gonna play each other.
"I don't know. You need something. You need to have a little more balance in scheduling.”
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Bring 'em on. I would like to play USC second game of the season. Heck, every year until we beat them. I don't think we ever have. I also like the idea of a Big 12/SEC Challenge. Just like Lloyd in Irving says...you don't know how good you really are unless you play some of those big games early. Think of how sweet a National Championship would be by winning every game on your schedule when that schedule included a win over some other major power outside of conference play.
I think it's great that Coach Stoops continues to schedule national powerhouses. How are you going to know how good you really are unless you play some of these big games early in the season?
i would like to see something like the big ten/acc challenge in football say like the big12 vs. sec you could have the third weekend in september set aside for it the match ups could be made with the first year six of the schools host games form one confernce and vice versa it would be great.think about ou vs.auburn or texas vs.lsu,texas a&m vs.georgia man it would be huge tv big money for both conferences.
I agree, the national attention will be a big plus when it comes to recognition and recruiting. I also like the idea of the "no fear" attitude this will bring. OU will be a force that everyone will have to recognize.
Way to go Bob!! I love it that we have always scheduled big games on our non-conference schedule, unlike a lot of the so called big name programs. It is great for the fans, usually gets us national coverage to promote the Sooner program, helps recruiting, and gives us strong bragging rights when we put a Sooner whuppin on em. Love the thought of playing the Irish, my sedcond most hated team, right after those Texas shorthorns I'm surrounded by. Keep up that type of scheduling; it clearly paints a picture that OU isn't scared of anybody and I love that.
First, O.U. played Alabama in '02 & '03, not in '01. Second, Alabama was NOT struggling in '02. They finished that season with 10 wins & ranked #11 in the AP. On another note, I like the aggressive scheduling.
Seems like the BCS ranking formula changes every year anyways, so when it is discovered perhaps in another year or two that strength of schedule is important, then it will be made a bigger part of the formula.
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Huh Big Game Bob!:)