ShareThisOklahoma's day of reckoning wasn't supposed to arrive until Jan. 7 in Pasadena. The Rose Bowl. Another shot at the national championship. A chance for redemption. Such driving forces, Oklahoma would not, could not, be denied.
Destiny destroyed that notion two weeks ago in Miami, when the Hurricanes handed the Sooners their second one-point loss of the season, shattering dreams of playing in a fourth BCS title game this century.
Miami may have put the nail in Oklahoma's pursuit of college football's Holy Grail, but a spot in one of the coveted BCS bowls is still well within its grasp. Especially now that Sam Bradford is back as the Sooners' field general, after suffering a shoulder injury late in the first half of their season-opening loss to BYU.
Despite failing those two early out-of-conference tests, the 20th-ranked Sooners can still have an opportunity to graduate at the top of their Big 12 class, if they bring their A game to the Red River Shootout with No. 3 Texas Saturday.
Bradford's illustrious return last weekend put to rest any concerns over whether his shoulder could hold up to the test of a full game. The Heisman winner threw 49 passes and completed 27 of them for 389 yards and a touchdown in a 33-7 victory over Baylor.
Oklahoma's disappointing start does take a bit of the luster out of this rivalry game. Everybody figured the Sooners, and the Longhorns, would be unbeaten for the shootout, and the winner would solidify itself as a major player in the BCS title chase.
That could all change Saturday in Dallas, if the Sooners emerge victorious. The Unbalanced Line thinks they will, for several reasons: Bradford, the outstanding tailback tandem of DeMarco Murray and Chris Brown, a vaunted defense and the lack of any pressure insofar as the national title is concerned.
And, there's the red flag that points to Texas' vulnerability: a rather lackluster first-half performance in a 38-14 victory over 1-4 Colorado last Saturday in Austin.
The Longhorns trailed 14-10 at the half, and probably would have fallen further behind if not for Earl Thomas' 92-yard interception return for a touchdown. Ben Wells took a blocked punt in for another Texas' score, and the Longhorns pulled away for a win that wasn't exactly a confidence booster.
Unfortunately for the Sooners, BCS darlings aside, even if they win the shootout, they'll likely still be ranked below Texas in the polls and in the BCS standings, the first set of which will be released Sunday.
Unless, for a change, the polls exercise some logic: With Bradford calling the signals, Oklahoma is a different, far better team, than the one that lost to BYU and Miami. If the Sooners are good enough to beat the Longhorns, they'd deserve a higher ranking.
And, if they run the table from here on out and win the Big 12 championship... In the crazy world of college football, is it such a crazy notion to think a two-loss team could play for the BCS title? That's exactly what happened two years ago with LSU (12-2) winning it all.
Still, it's tough to script that scenario. Talk about stretching the imagination. You'd have to envision most of the Top 25 losing at least two games, and Boise State losing one.
Who knows, it's only the halfway point. Maybe Saturday will get the ball rolling. In addition to Texas, the Nos. 2, 4 and 6 teams in the Associated Press poll are all facing ranked opponents, and top-ranked Florida is facing a 3-2 Arkansas team that's gaining momentum, coming off a 44-23 win over unbeaten Auburn.
Could No. 2 Alabama lose to No. 22 South Carolina in Tuscaloosa? Could No. 19 Georgia Tech upset No. 4 Virginia Tech in Atlanta? Does No. 25 Notre Dame have any prayer of knocking off Southern California in South Bend? And, is there any chance the Gators could lose in the Swamp?
Given the propensity for Top 10 turnover this time of year, the probability is high that at least one, if not more, of the favorites will fall.
The worth of team is measured on the field, where poll perceptions are often destroyed.
Remember Ole Miss? Ranked 8th in the AP's preseason poll and 10th in the USA Today poll, the Rebels are now 3-2 and unranked. And how about habitually overrated California? Ranked 12th in both polls to start the season, the Golden Bears are now nowhere to be found in the rankings, after getting blown out on back-to-back weekends by Oregon and Southern Cal by a combined score of 72-6.
Judgment day comes early for some. So brace yourselves for another heart pounding, eye-opening weekend of college football.
(Email John Tucker at jtucker(at)unionleader.com)
(E-mail John Tucker at jtucker(at)unionleader.com)
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