Sooners could become Dallas regulars

I was looking at the 2009 OU football schedule, which was released Thursday, and a thought struck me.

Let’s say the Sooners win the Big 12 South, which is no stretch since they’ve done so seven times in the last nine years. Then let’s say OU loses the Big 12 title game, which actually might be a stretch, since OU is 6-1 in Big 12 title games and the North Division largely stinks.

But stick with me. If OU wins the South and loses the Big 12 title game, there’s a decent chance the Sooners could return to the Cotton Bowl, a classic in which they’ve played only once, on New Year’s Day 2002 against Arkansas.

Under that scenario, OU will play 14 games next season. Six at Owen Field. And four in Greater Dallas. Two in the Cotton Bowl, two in Arlington’s Jerry World.

I don’t know what that means, but it certainly strikes me as odd. The Dallas/Arlington combination would make the Sooners like the old Alabama, which used to split its schedule between Birmingham and Tuscaloosa, and the only old Arkansas, which once split its schedule between Little Rock and Fayetteville.

Arkansas still plays a game or two in Little Rock, but Bama left Birmingham behind. OU is going the other way. It scheduled two games this season for the Metroplex and hopes to get to a third, then hopes to avoid a fourth.