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January 4, 2008

Bowl appearances no comfort for OU fans

By Jeff Mullin, Commentary

Since the Bowl Championship Series was established in 1999, 40 different college football teams have played in BCS games, including this bowl season.

Only four teams have appeared in six BCS games, including the bowl season that concludes with the Ohio State-LSU national championship matchup Monday night.

One of those four teams is the Oklahoma Sooners.

That likely is little comfort to Sooner fans, who have had to suffer through four straight BCS defeats, including Wednesday night’s 48-28 loss to West Virginia.

There are plenty of other programs in the country looking up at the Sooners and their fellow six-BCS colleagues — Ohio State, Florida State and Southern Cal. Fans of many programs throughout the country would gladly give a vital body part to see their teams even get in a position to lose four straight BCS games.

The Sooners are 2-4 in their BCS appearances, which places them somewhere near the middle of the pack. At least OU has a better mark than Florida State, which is 1-5 in its BCS appearances — including the 13-2 loss to OU in the 2001 Orange Bowl that propelled the Sooners to the national championship.

Unlike a year ago, when the Sooners were beaten by a Boise State team with inferior talent, but superior imagination, OU lost to a better team in the 2008 Fiesta Bowl.

The Mountaineers played as if they were trying to spit in the eye of departed head coach Rich Rodriguez. If it hadn’t been for an injury that sidelined quarterback Pat White for most of West Virginia’s 13-9 loss to Pittsburgh, the Mountaineers would be playing in Monday night’s national championship game.

Since both teams have a number of players returning, both Oklahoma and West Virginia should find themselves among the top teams in next summer’s preseason polls.

It is possible they could meet again, in the 2009 BCS National Championship Game.

If they do, the Sooners should tear the “onside kick” page out of their playbook.



Mullin is senior writer of the News & Eagle

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