BCS favors Oklahoma over Texas
Oklahoma quarterback Sam Bradford, right, hands the ball off to DeMarco Murray during a football game against Texas Tech in Norman, Okla. on Saturday, Nov. 22. Oklahoma will be heading to the Big 12 finals. Alonzo Adams, The Associated Press
Dec 1, 2008
Last updated on May 13, 2016 at 05:42 p.m.
NEW YORK – A week before the final standings are released and the Bowl Championship Series is already ticking people off.
Oklahoma – not Texas – is headed to the Big 12 championship game with an inside track to the national title game by finishing ahead of the Longhorns in the BCS standings.
Texas’ victory against the Sooners in October wasn’t enough to give the Longhorns the advantage in a three-way tie between Oklahoma, Texas and Texas Tech atop the Big 12 South. And that’s sure to leave many in Austin feeling slighted.
The Big 12 had to use its fifth tiebreaker-best BCS rating-to determine which team will play North winner Missouri on Saturday in Kansas City, Mo.
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The Sooners (11-1), who lost to Texas 45-35 in October, barely edged the Longhorns. Oklahoma has a .9351 BCS average. Texas’ BCS average is .9223.
Oklahoma was a point ahead of Texas in the USA Today coaches’ poll and six points behind the Longhorns in the Harris Interactive. The computer ratings preferred the Sooners and that made the difference.
So the Longhorns will be watching two teams they beat play for the conference title, rooting for Missouri.
Oklahoma is second in the BCS standings behind unbeaten Alabama. Texas is third and Florida is fourth.
The winner of the Southeastern Conference championship game between the Crimson Tide and Gators is virtually guaranteed a spot in the BCS national title game on Jan. 8 in Miami.
Oklahoma would earn the other spot by beating Missouri. If the Sooners lose, it could open the door for Texas to go to the national title game, despite not playing for its conference championship.
If voters are squeamish about letting a team that didn’t win its conference play for a national championship, maybe Southern California could get a shot at the SEC champ in South Florida.
The Trojans are fifth in the BCS standings with a game to go at rival UCLA.
The Sooners were behind Texas last week in the BCS standings by a tiny margin. The Sooners actually led the Longhorns in the polls, but a week ago the computers had Texas ahead of Oklahoma.
After the Sooners’ 61-41 victory Saturday night against Oklahoma State – 14th in the latest standings – and the Longhorns’ 49-9 win over lowly Texas A&M; on Thanksgiving night, the polls tightened but the computers flipped.
