Berry Tramel, Sports columnist
OU's Bob Stoops on brink of sixth Big 12 title
By Berry Tramel
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73
Published: December 5, 2008
Bob Stoops’ domination of Texas? Gone. The Longhorns have won three of the last four, and Vince Young was needed for only one of the insurrections.
Bob Stoops waves to the crowd after beating OSU. Photo by Nate Billings, the oklahoman
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WEATHER
FORECAST: RAIN AND SNOW
Those heading for Kansas City might want to bring an extra coat.
Game-time temperatures for the Big 12 Championship between second-ranked Oklahoma and No. 20-ranked Missouri are expected to drop into the 20-degree range.
Forecasts suggest rain and snow could also hamper the city throughout the day leading up to the game.
The playing field at Arrowhead Stadium already took a beating last week during Kansas’ 40-37 defeat of Missouri.
More precipitation will only make the footing worse.
BY JAKE TROTTER
FOR FANS
TICKETS STILL ON SALE
Plenty of tickets are still accessible for those willing to brave the cold.
Even though OU sold out its allotment Monday morning, tickets are available through online brokers or the Kansas City Chiefs ticket office.
According to Chiefs spokesman Bob Moore, several thousand tickets are still left, with the bulk of those priced at $55. To reach the Chiefs ticket office, call (816) 920-9400.
Fans can also go to Ticketmaster.com and enter “Arrowhead Stadium” in the search box to purchase tickets, or call (800) 676-5488.
As of Thursday afternoon, RazorGator.com currently had more than 800 tickets for sale, some listed for as low as $34 each. Sideline level tickets are available for $118. TicketsNow.com also had more than 800 tickets left, ranging from $33 to $316 apiece.
BY JAKE TROTTER
NewsOK Related Articles
Stoops’ bowl game successes? Long gone. Four straight BCS defeats, with a lone Holiday-from-the-BCS victory mixed in.
Stoops’ defensive reputation? In the gutter. I’m always up for defending
Brent Venables, but OU’s status as winged werewolves who maniacally protect the end zone is gone with the wind of change. Stoops is back in the national-championship hunt because of his offense.
But there is one place where Stoops’ prestige has not withered. One place where he remains lord of the castle.
Big 12 Championship games.
The league is 12 championships old, and Stoops is the only coach with more than one league gridiron trophy. He has
five, with a sixth coming Saturday night provided
Sam Bradford doesn’t get stuck in traffic outside
Arrowhead Stadium.
Stoops is 5-1 in Big 12 title games, an astounding number considering the records of other top-flight coaches in this spectacle.
Gary Barnett was 1-3.
Bill Snyder is 1-2.
Mack Brown is 1-1.
Tom Osborne was 1-1.
Yet barring an upset that would pale even
K-State’s 2003 shocker at Arrowhead, Stoops will be 6-1 come Saturday night.
I asked him why he’s so good in Big 12 title games.
"Good players playing well,” Stoops said, apparently uninterested in the topic.
But OU offensive coordinator
Kevin Wilson offered deeper insight.
"Coach makes a big deal about championships at Oklahoma,” Wilson said. "We strive to make it. We try to judge ourselves as a championship-style team.”
Big 12 championships should be a big deal. They are not easy to obtain. The league is diverse and deep. Win this league, and you beat out all kinds of schools that believe championships are their divine right, too. Texas,
Nebraska, A&M. Plus upstarts like
Texas Tech,
Missouri and
Oklahoma State that have gotten very serious about football in recent years.
Yet here comes Stoops, winning Big 12s the way
Kelsey Grammer won Emmys. Not every year, but seems like it.
"It’s not easy,” Stoops said. "It’s a competitive conference, particularly here in the South. It’s incredibly difficult. I always appreciate the work of players, assistant coaches, everyone in the program to keep your head down, keep fighting for it, to give ourself a chance for it.
"For a good number of times, we’ve been able to do it.”
The
Sooners have been favored in every Big 12 final. But that doesn’t mean it’s been all walkovers.
That first Big 12 title, in the 2000 freeze of
Kansas City? OU was unbeaten and ranked No. 1 but was just a 3
-point favorite over an excellent
Kansas State team.
Last year in
San Antonio? The Sooners were 3-point favorites, but Missouri was 11-1 and ranked No. 1. In the nation.
These games aren’t easy to reach, as the soap opera surrounding the 2008 matchup will attest. And these games aren’t easy to win.
Yet Stoops keeps winning them. Big 12 title games are his last corner of dominance.
Berry Tramel: 405-760-8080. Berry Tramel can be heard Monday through Friday from 4:40-5:20 p.m. on The Sports Animal network, including AM-640 and FM-98.1.
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Dont worry Longhorn fans....Chokelahoma will come thru just like they always do and we will be vindicated....Hookem!!!
Defense, show up and play your heart out! Austin Box get well soon!
Sam throw for 5 TDs tomorrow!!!!!
BOOMER
I'm just saying there is NO WAY IN HELL OU drops this one. I say that while offering the caveat that if they do lose (and hell freezes over) I'll be dancing on the hood of my car because I dont even plan on watching the slaughter.
Hook'em
I REALLY want some of whatever your smoking...please let me kow what it is and where I can get it.
Even a Texas fan like myself can see through the burnt orange-tinted glasses and see a 63-35 beatdown.
BTW, Stoops is a helluva coach (and I despise him).
Hook'em