Strange Brad that i seem to remember teams from the Big 8 playing for national championships on a regular basis prior to the formation of the Big 12...Nebraska (twice in the nineties), Colorado, and OU (twice in the eighties). How many SWC teams played for titles in that time period...zero? The Big 8 was nothing like the Pac 10, OU and Neb. were constantly in the title picture and on a regular basis a team like Colorado or OSU (with Thurman, Gundy, and Sanders) would be in the top 3. Facts my boy, they may not mean much in Texas but north of Red River they do.

I hope they do change the rule next year and UT is higher ranked in the BCS and the Sooners win the head to head, lose at TTU, then go to B12 Champ. I'd laugh my ass off.

Oh boy SOONER fans get ready for the longhorns to turn on the tears again. The new basketball polls are out and OU moved ahead of texas. Mack call ESPN and see if you can get some air time to cry and tell the nation how that is so unfair.

Better yet mack, cry me a river you crybaby. If the players on your team can't figure out the real reason you aren't playing in the B12 CG then they are more stupid than you. Let me remind you 39-33.

I really feel OU is the better team regardless of the loss to Texas. People want to call Texas's loss to TT a "fluke" well I feel the same way about their win over OU. OU lost that game in the 4th and lead most of the game, Texas lost to TT in the 4th. Any way you try to make the "what ifs", it still comes down to someone getting screwed. If OU hadn't beat TT or OSU, then under Mack and most journalists, TT should go to the Big 12 championship. So Texas needed OU to beat TT and OSU, but they didn't count on OU blowing them out. So by OU winning both games, that is the only opportunity Texas would have had! So it came down to a razor thin line and OU happened to walk away ahead. Due to their strength of schedule and impressive wins over ranked teams. The only logical solution would be the Big 12 dissolve the north/south and figure out a plan that would allow the top two teams to play for the Big 12 title. A OU/Texas rematch would have been great and probably done a lot for the Big 12 nationally. But it is what it is and even Mack signed off on the rules. Either way you look at it each team had a legitimate reason to be in KC.

Oh, and I never said the QB's were left in the game to run up the score. They were left in to keep exposure to voters for their bid to win the Heisman and to upgrade/support their team's ranking. I think both Stoops and Leach did better jobs of marketing their players in this regard compared to Mack Brown.

Edwin...good point about 1971, except for one thing. Nebraska, Oklahoma, and Colorado finished 1, 2, 3 respectively that year. The one thing different than this year is Nebraska beat both OU and CO, and OU beat CO. There was no tie, no hassles. There's a great discussion about it at http://uponfurtherreview.kansascity.com/?q=node/164

Dear Coach Brown, It could be the other way around too with my Sooners sitting out. That the South Division of the Big 12 has 3 of the top 7 BCS teams reminds me of 1971 when the Big 8 had the top 3, namely Nebraska, OU and Colorado. I would put UT, OU and Tech up against the top 3 in any other conference, everybody healthy. Peace, love, OU #1, The Reverend Tony

Anyone who claims Bradford was being left games to run the scores up in blowouts is clueless, and has not watched our games. We averaged something like 40 points in the first half alone for the biggest stretch of our blowout wins. Yes Bradford may have still been in the game a couple of times in the 4th quarter, but he wasn't throwing passes, he was handing the ball off. Was Stoops supposed to put Joey in and let him pass? That would likely have actually resulted in running the score up. I'm sorry but all the whining about Stoops running the score up is just stupid and is coming from people who did not watch the games.

Mack has always had a little Ball Bag in him, go back to the Chrisisy Sims era. This year Mack has a legit beef. This is a double edge sword for OU this year. Next year is only a dream, who knows what is going to happen? OU needs to win out or have their nose rubbed in it nation wide for awhile, and Stoops track record is not real shiny when it comes to Bowls

If the BCS standing was not the fifth tie breaker for the Big 12 South and we had the same system as one of the other conferences, UT would be the Big 12 South Champ; but that wouldn't change the BCS standings with UT rated # 3 and OU rated # 2. In that scenario OU would sit in Norman on Dec 6th and watch the Longhorns and Tigers play for the Big 12 Championship and not risk being bumped out by a loss or suffering a key injury and still be in the NC game without being the Big 12 Champ. Everyone is talking like UT would automatically be in the NC game if they were in the Big 12 title game and beat the Tigers again. I doubt that UT's BCS rating would eclipse OU's by beating a two loss team (which they already beat). The NC game will be played between # 1 & # 2 in the BCS standings no matter who the Big 12 Champ turns out to be. The only hope Texas has for an NC game invite is OU losing in the Big 12 Championship game and dropping their BCS rating, so they should be glad it worked out this way. At least they have a faint little flicker of hope. Maybe one of Mack Brown's players should explain it to him. He obviously doesn't get it!!! Maybe we should fly a plane over Austin with a banner explaining it to all of them; but I doubt that it could fly slow enough for them to read all the big words.

Lets say that next year Mack is successful if getting the Big 12 to change the rules, make them like the SEC or one of the other conferences that drop the lowest ranked and take the head to head of the two remaining. Now lets say that OU beats Texas next year and Texas beats TT and TT beats OU, but TT is the lowest ranked team of the three. Does Mack come out crying that Texas should go because of the three way tie and have a higher ranked team?....lol. OU would go under his system...that would be really funny.

I've got your system right here: Drop the divisions in the Big XII. They don't matter in any sport but football, and they are more trouble than they are worth. Play the same 8 conference games. Every school gets 3 rivalry games. Then, they rotate the rest of the conference. 5 games and 8 other teams. Old rivalries will be rikindled. New rivalries created. Rotate the system so everyone plays everyone else at least twice (home and home) every 4 years, just like now. And revisit the system to reassign rivalries and such every 4 years. OU - OSU, Texas, Nebraska OSU - OU, Texas, Tech Tech - A&M, OSU, K-State A&M - Baylor, Tech, Texas Mizzou - Kansas, Nebraska, Baylor ISU - Colorado, Kansas State, Baylor Etc. Etc. (Obviously, you'd have to create some rivalries for some schools. And all the Texas schools couldn't just claim each other.) Then you can still have a conference championship if you want. You could even use Mack Brown's system of taking the top 2 BCS teams and throwing out all the teams that beat you... uh... I mean all the other teams that tied.

Mack Brown, pestered for a more concise statement that could be text messaged, managed to offer a new statement that makes the same point, but with brevity: "The system screwed us. We want a new system." -Mack Brown

Dbo-I don't think Mack was wrong for not repudiating the Texas fans attempt to bolster their team. That's what fans are for; to root for their team, to hold up signs, to criticize the opposing teams, to blog for hours-on-end. If fans want to spend their money, time, or talent to support their team, then how can you fault a coach or player. I don't see why you would ask why OU should thank Texas and TTech. If Texas had played better, then OU would not be in the position they are in. So, OU ought to be thankful that Texas played poor and lost, and thankful that TTech played great and won. I think my first post was self-explanatory, but since you asked, I thought I'd be more specific.

I'd like to see Florida beat Alabama, OU beat Mizzou, then let OU play Texas again for the MNC. It would be hilarious if UT then beat OU. Absolutely hilarious...

John, Rules are rules and if OSU had won, TT was going. No argument here. Also, because of the tie-breaking rules, I was routing like all other Longhorns, for OU to beat TT otherwise there was no chance at all due to head's-up play. This is no different for any other team in any other year when "you've done all you can and your destiny is no longer in your hands." I'm sure OU fans were actively praying for a Kansas win over us as we were for OU to beat OSU. Agree with you the system needs revamping, but how? No matter what you do or suggest, you'll have major arguments. Playoffs don't work outright; take for example you let 8 teams play, there will be HUGE arguments for the teams in 9th/10th place (where the playing field is very, very even) not including the wear and tear on the players for 3 additional weeks of playing. OR, if you revamp like the SEC and others have done in a 3-way tie, you BCS rank the three, eliminate the worst team, and head's up compare the remaining two. But that system would let UT go to the Big 12, etc, etc... You can't win outside...unless you go 12-0 and remove all arguments.

I want to know from a Texas fan a "what if". What if OU had lost to OSU, would you still be mad that Texas Tech was in Big 12 championship, they beat you heads up. Texas fans had to root for OU over TT and OSU or they don't even get to be in this conversation. Now that there was a 3 way tie you forget all about them. I am an OU fan and still think the better team lost in October, but everything worked out in our favor. Texas did come away with the win, but they were getting beat until late in the game, just like at TT. OU is better and deserve to go. I would much rather face Texas or TT in the Big 12 championship game though, Missouri is terrible and does not belong. The Big 12 needs to make some revisions to the championship game by not having the North winner play the south winner, but by having the best two teams in the conference play each other, whether they are in the North or the South. But then we'd still be having this same argument with the three way tie.

Gary, I have no idea what I'd say if Missouri were to win Saturday...I don't seem to dream about the impossible! I'm pretty sure I couldn't vote for Tech to go to the BCS over UT, but I'm not sure UT should be there either based on their last three games. Maybe I'm just looking for the best game possible, loyalty not withstanding. And about Bradford...in the K-State game he was playing at 6:57 left in the fourth, in the Nebraska game he came out at the beginning of the 4th, in the A&M game he came out half way through the 3rd, and in the Tech game he came out after the touchdown in the 4th. Key was he was allowed to score and go, while McCoy was just pulled after some 'point in time.' Stoops did a much better marketing job for Bradford and I seriously think he did enough for the Heisman. We'll know shortly I guess, but just too much for Colt to overcome. All the controversy makes for a great season, doesn't it?!

Could it have worked out better for OU(other than a win over Texas)? We get to play for it all and Texas beat us. It's ironic. I love to see Pronghorn fans so flustered. Having lived in Texas, I know how they are fuming. It's great. Fume on Pronhorn faithful. GO OU! BEAT MU!

Gary: Love it!!

Brad,hi - you don't know what you are talking about. Sam Bradford did not see the field in the fourth quarter in blowout wins against Kansas State, Nebraska, Texas A&M, and Texas Tech. Of course, he stayed in against Kansas and OSU because they were competitive games in the fourth quarter. And let me ask you this, Brad. What if OU were to lose to Missouri Saturday. Why would your horns deserve to go to the BCS championship game over Texas Tech. Both teams are 11-1, and Tech beat Texas HEAD TO HEAD ON THE FIELD. Isn't that what really counts? lol

It is unfortunate that TT, OU, and UT were so strong this year and this came to pass. Again, it really boils down to getting the job done and we couldn't do it with TT. We all knew the tie-breaker rules going into the season and we therefore have no right to bitch about them now. OU did what it needed to in order to go to the Big 12 Championship and we didn't. That's the simple fact. We need to get over it and move on...but if you're still bitter about it you can cheer for Alabama or Florida to beat OU...but move on. And to "Involved," if you were to eliminate the "Texas trash" as you call it from the conference, you'd have condition like USC in a conference of useless, unrated teams...meaning you'd be going to the Toilet Bowl every year like Boise State...oh, I'm sorry, my bad, even THEY beat OU. Yeah, "go big 8."

I don't think it is fair that the BCS decides who plays for our championship. I know Texas beat OU, whether it was early in the season or not. Texas should be the ones to play in KC, in my opinion.

Texas has a legitimate gripe but in the end they could have avoided this whole thing by beating TT. I would love to hear from a Texas fan how they should be in the Big 12 title game over TT. You lost to a team that finished with the same record as you, take OU out of the equation and tell me how you deserve to be there. You can't. All three teams, though OU and UT more than TT, have reasons to be in the title game. The conference should put the two best teams in the stupid game or better yet kick the Texas trash out of the conference and go back to the good ol' days of the Big 8. Hey UT, have fun trying to gain any respect while beating up on TCU, SMU and Rice for the SWC championship, oh wait you couldn't even win that championship on a regular basis. UT owes its national title and current recruiting success to OU and the rest of the Big 8 for allowing you in to our conference in the first place, without us you are nothing but the Big East south. See ya in KC!!!

I'm a UT fan, but the facts are quite clear even though I don't like them...we needed to win the Tech game outright (yes, by catching the tipped ball), but in spite of that, we simply failed to perform OUTSIDE the games. Specifically, OU, and indeed Florida, have done an outstanding job of leaving their QB's on the field to two ends: winning the game as best as possible (the scores wouldn't have been anywhere near as high if the 2nd/3rd string QB's came in at the beginning of the 4th quarter when the game was out of reach...like Mack Brown did) AND they sold their QB's for the Heisman Trophy for 60 minutes (unlike Mack Brown who did it for ~45 minutes). I don't believe running up the score, but the rules of the BCS and Heisman are clear that you need to do so. Thus, in the end, UT has lost the computer vote, the polls, and the Heisman in its three final lackluster games. Congrats to OU for getting the job done...but if you lose to Missouri, we never had this talk.

hey ronald...mack should have gone on record saying the air ad was low class if he had nothing to do with it. And explain to me why the SOONERS should "thank tezas and ttech"?

I hope Missouri beats you guys, and don't trip, because I know you were hoping for a Texas loss since we beat you.

I read a comment saying Texas needed OU to win, but before Texas needed them, OU needed us. 45-35 did not help OU. You guys had better thank Texas and TTech, because if we hadn't played so terrible and they hadn't been playing like their lives depended on it, then OU would be relegated to the Fiesta bowl.

Hey Texas: "You should have caught the interception"!!.. Go Big Red

J. Crowder-nice try but you know ESPN runs the same news all-day. And trying to pin the air-ad on Mack is wrong, since fans devised and paid for the service. Last, but not least, we beat the no.#1 team in the land and have the golden hat as proof; OU didn't get in because they were better.

I'm shocked that these coaches, especially Mack Brown, aren't using this instance as a platform to condemn the ridiculous system in place in Div. I. This is a perfect opportunity with the amount of controversy happening to demonstrate once again how the BCS just can't work and why a 12 or 16 team playoff would eliminate all this nonsense. The problem doesn't have anything to do with how the Big 12 determines who goes to their champ. game it has everything to do with a system that nobody else in the history of sports has ever used...voting in 2 teams at the end of a year to play in a champ. game that gives us a mythical national champion. It needs to be decided on the field of play not in a poll or by a computer.

mack whored himself out all day on Saturday, ESPN, ESPN news, planes flying overhead, and 5 minutes of politicking during the bedlam game. schedule somebody other than utep and rice for your nonconference games if you want to have an argument. 39-33 nuff said

You Sooners are hypocrites. Stoops went on the Dan Patrick Show last week, politicking for his Sooners, and then on Tuesday he tried to take the high-road, saying he was done politicking. I didn't hear you talkin' about that. Mack rightfully stood-up for his team, but said it would not be fair for any of the three to be left out. Don't sit there and act like you guys haven't done what you're claiming about Mack.

Maybe we should do it the way the MBFL (Mack Brown Fantasy League) does it: The team coached by Mack Brown gets an automatic bid.

bob stoops was asked to go on tv during the Texas-Texas A&M game to plead OU's chance. bob had class and chose not too. i really enjoyed hearing hearing the classless coach brown during the OU-OSU game. i believed i could hear violins in the back ground. if i remember right, did the texas coach, not cry to the voter and get the nod ahead of california in the rose bowl, coach right now you 50-50 in your crying. I still can't figure why any team would want Bevo as a mascot, after all he does't have any ba**s.

What a classless jerk.

Also, Mack DOES sound like he is going to explain to a 3-year-old why Santa won't be coming to their house this Christmas. How silly!

I feel badly for Texas, I really do. But Mack's assertion that using the BCS rankings as a 5th tiebreaker (OK, who can tell me the first 4 tiebreakers; I can only come up with 2) is unfair is silly. He knew that an OU victory over OSU would boost OU in the computer rankings, so he relied on a serious PR effort to get UT higher in the coaches' and Harris polls. Yes, the OU fans (including me) would be b*tching if Texas had gotten in over OU. That is why we really really really need an 8-team playoff. If that was in place, some of this nonsense wouldn't have to happen. OU, UT, AND Texas Tech (Remember them Mack? They beat you) would all be included in that scenario. And then it truly would be decided on the field.

Of course Mack is whining. He's been whining for a solid week. Likes to forget TX had its destiny in hand and blew it. Not convenient. What you tell your kids is, "Obviously, you shoulda beat Tech and we wouldn't be having this conversation. But we lost to a team OK creamed, escaped OSU by the skin of our teeth, and found ourselves on the outside of a three-way tie looking in. Note to self: win South Division outright next year." You'd think he'd be smart enough to figure that out for his kids. And hey, TX fans, if I were Stoops, I'd be happy to play TX again in KC instead of Missouri. You trailed all day in Dallas, benefited from Reynolds' injury, and wouldn't win another head to head. You know it. Looks like enough voters have figured that out, otherwise, they could've and would've given TX the votes to go to KC. This isn't the "BCS's fault". It's the human voters, once again, just like it always was, making the decision. And enough people, along with objective math, think OU is actually the better team.

The loss to Texas ALMOST was worth listening to them cry.

Dear Mack - Remember when you tell your "kids" (who probably average 27 years of age) "two teams we beat this season will be playing for the Big 12 Championship." that one of them is in another division - the North - so they don't count. Also, when you tell them... speak real slow and go over things 2 or 3 times so they will understand.

"I'll try to explain it to them".......LOL.....are the Horn football players so stupid that they need an explanation about what just happened?

Tech should get the other BCS spot because they beat Texas head to head. I'm sure Mack would agree...

Kinda like a good prize fighter, never leave the decision in the hands of the judges!!

I'm sorry, Joe. What was that? I couldn't hear you over the party going on here. Your comment is incorrect. Luck had nothing to do with it. Nor did whining, or begging, or fuzzy math. The Big XII tie-breakers have been set for years. Why start crying about them now? Where has Mack's indignation been for the past decade? It only seems to bother him now that he has to live with the results.

Poooor Texas! Didum's get left out of the big game? Of course you "deserved" to go- you spent much more time and money politicking than either OU or TT.

Well, Joe go read the Austin papers if you want to hear cry baby talk. Tex. Tech. beat you!

If OU goes to the National Championship game, then LET'S SEE IF MACK TAKES TEXAS TO AN AT LARGE BCS GAME OVER TEXAS TECH WHOM HE LOST TO HEAD TO HEAD.

Interesting how Mack thinks the BCS should not be used to decide the tie breaker. But his solution uses the BCS to throw out one of the 3 teams to get to a head to head with his team! Mack talks out of both sides of his mouth and isn't even very clever about it. I'd like to see his rational for using the BCS to eliminate Texas Tech, the very team that beat him head to head. Mack is better at politics than at coaching.

Wow, you Sooners sure are tough. I wonder how this message board would have been different had Texas got the nod. You all claim that UT needs to quit bitching, but I'm sure you're attitude would have been far different if you hadn't gotten so lucky...

Everybody needs to wear these "35>45" shirts (or bring the poster) to the conference &/or national championship game! Here is the link: http://www.shirtpervert.com/index.cgi/sportstshirts/shirtpervert/6248309

WAAAAAAAAAAh, WAAAAAAAAAAAAAh, WHAAAAAAAAAAAAh. Break out the umbrellas and the slicker suits. I'm drowning in the Texas Tears!!! Enough allready!! Go Sooners!!!

Typical Mac Brown! I think he should have said, "I’m really disappointed for our kids who practised and played their hearts out all season. However, I'll remind them that we would be playing in the conference championship game had it not been for the loss at Tech. In the future, I will lead by example by not whining about the current system, especially when it doesn't favor our team. But most importantly, my message will be that you’ve done enough to put yourself in position to play in a BCS bowl game, you had a great season and there still is a lot out there for you to play for and be proud about!"

This is why strength of schedule is sometimes more important that winning or losing a game. If Texas plays a stronger schedule than OU played then OU doesn't pass Texas.

rally to be in position to win but still lost.

Did Mack really think OU was going to win 7-6 or like they "almost won" against TT. WHICH they had to rally but got their butts whipped for most of the game.

Texas ain't getting screwed. They got everything they deserved and then some. They NEEDED Oklahoma to beat Okie State even to have a shot at the Big 12 championship. Think about it: if OU lost, then Texas Tech would be going to the Big 12 CCG. Mack couldn't b*tch about it one bit. Again, he NEEDED OU to win, otherwise, Texas didn't "deserve" to go. With that in mind, why does OU's victory suddenly mean Texas "deserves" to win the Big 12 south now? Maybe if UT's secondary didn't have butterfingers they'd be playing next week instead of b*tching and moaning....

Let me answer this for Mack: you lost to TTU in November. Oh and Mizzou won the North, which is the half of the conference you don't play in. Hope this helps.