Bob Stoops understands the Sooner Nation wants national championships

Primarily because he isn't and it hasn't.

But Stoops would be better off if he did show some disgust, rather than pride, at recent Sooner results. Would be better off if he stuck his head out the window and yelled across campus, “I'm mad, and I'm not going to take it anymore!”

The natives would feel better.

Stoops chatted with some of us writers Friday for his annual state of the Sooners. His kingdom grumbles after a 41-13 Cotton Bowl thrashing courtesy of the Texas Aggies.

But Stoops gives no ground.

“Let's see here,” Stoops said. “We've won two of the last three Big 12 championships. We just were 15th in the country. We've won more games overall than any other Big 12 team in the last three years. We've won more Big 12 games than any other team in the last three years.

“I think in the last three years, there's only five teams in the country that have won 10 or more games; we're one of them. In the last five years, there's only two teams that have won more games than us. So pretty good.”

I cringed the longer he talked. Everything Stoops said is true. One hundred percent accurate. But that's not what his fans want to hear.

They don't want to hear that over the last five years, only Alabama (61) and Oregon (56) have more victories than OU's 52. Don't want to hear that over the last three seasons, only Oregon (36), Alabama (35), Stanford (35) and LSU (34) have more wins than OU's 32.

Don't want to hear about a 2012 Big 12 co-championship, since it was shared with Kansas State, a fair-and-square winner at Owen Field in September.

OU fans want to see their coach lathered up over going four straight years without reaching the Big Bowl. Over going 12 straight years without a national championship.

“I hate it,” Stoops said of the drought. “We've been pretty used to it (national title contention). I helped create that, and to me, it's the pulse here.”