NORMAN — Six seasons ago, Oklahoma required some late-season help from Kansas State to leapfrog Texas and ultimately win the Big 12 championship.
This year, OU finds itself hoping for the exact opposite: To have any shot at conference supremacy, OU needs the Longhorns to beat Kansas State on Dec. 1.
College football's famous unpredictability struck again last weekend, when the two top-ranked teams lost on the same day and shook up conference and national championship scenarios.
Baylor's stunning 52-24 upset of then-No. 1 Kansas State has complicated the Big 12 outlook, but OU's conference-title blueprint is relatively simple: Win out, and cheer for Texas in two weeks.
“The only opportunity we have at any of that is to play well and win this week,” said Oklahoma coach Bob Stoops. “That's what we'll talk about.”
The Sooners host Oklahoma State at 2:30 p.m. Saturday, and therein lies the commonality — Bedlam on Thanksgiving weekend — between this season and the two others in which OU needed late-season assistance to win Big 12 titles.
“We can't sit around and worry about what K-State does or doesn't do,” said OU senior defensive lineman David King. “We have to focus on OSU.
“But you look at it, and it's kinda out there. You can't sit around and dwell on it, but with the way football is played today, any team can beat anybody on any given day.”
Such was the case in both 2006 and 2008, when OU overcame Red River Rivalry losses to win the conference because of what happened in November and December.
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