from CFN:
The 5 Reasons Texas Should Be In The Big 12 Championship ...
5. Oklahoma 57 ... Chattanooga 2
If you take the Chattanooga game out of the mix, Oklahoma played a tougher schedule than Texas. But you can't do that. When we're splitting hairs, every little thing counts; just ask the unbeaten 2004 Auburn team that got left out of the national title game partly because it played D-IAA Citadel. Texas will finish with the third toughest schedule in America, while Oklahoma will be around the 20s.
4. Margin Of Victory
Take away that ridiculous OU win over Chattanooga, one of the nation's worst FCS teams, and Texas and Oklahoma actually have almost the same margin of victory. Outside of the Chattanooga win, Oklahoma's average margin of victory is 26 points per game. Texas, over the 12-game season, averages out to a margin of victory of 25.5 points per game. Basically, Texas is blowing out teams just as impressively as Oklahoma, but it's just not doing it with the same bells and whistles.
3. Scoring Defense
Oh sure, the offense gets the chicks, but if you're going to be impressed by the Oklahoma Sooner juggernaut of an attack, then give the same credit to a Texas defense that was the best in the Big 12 by far when it came to the fewest points allowed. Missouri was second in the Big 12 in points allowed, giving up 296, while Texas allowed just 223.
2. The Texas Tech Loss
Lost in the finish of that game was how Texas showed tremendous pluck by getting back in it in the first place. OU got the Red Raiders at home, while Texas had to go to Lubbock. It took the greatest play in the biggest game in the history of Texas Tech football, with a perfect play made by a first round-caliber receiver, to beat the Longhorns with one second to play. Yeah, yeah, yeah, ifs and buts, but if Blake Gideon had been able to hold on to a sure interception with 11 seconds to play, we wouldn't be having this discussion and we'd be breaking down No. 1 Texas vs. Missouri for the Big 12 title game. One drop and one second. That's the margin we're talking about here between a possible national championship and a BCS game with the hopes of finishing No. 2 in the final polls.
1. Texas 45 ... Oklahoma 35
There's just no getting around it. It's not like it was a fluke, and it's not like Sam Bradford and the Sooners had an off day. The OU offense rolled early, but the defense and special teams struggled in the clutch while the vaunted, supposedly unstoppable, attack scored seven points over the final 26:45. In the end, Texas won by ten points. Double digits. It's obvious, but it bears repeating. If we really are just comparing the two teams, then Texas has the slam-dunk, iron-clad winning argument. It beat Oklahoma. Oklahoma didn't beat Texas. That means the Longhorns might be sitting at home and watching two teams it beat by a combined score of 101 to 67.
The 5 Reasons Texas Should Be In The Big 12 Championship ...
5. Oklahoma 57 ... Chattanooga 2
If you take the Chattanooga game out of the mix, Oklahoma played a tougher schedule than Texas. But you can't do that. When we're splitting hairs, every little thing counts; just ask the unbeaten 2004 Auburn team that got left out of the national title game partly because it played D-IAA Citadel. Texas will finish with the third toughest schedule in America, while Oklahoma will be around the 20s.
4. Margin Of Victory
Take away that ridiculous OU win over Chattanooga, one of the nation's worst FCS teams, and Texas and Oklahoma actually have almost the same margin of victory. Outside of the Chattanooga win, Oklahoma's average margin of victory is 26 points per game. Texas, over the 12-game season, averages out to a margin of victory of 25.5 points per game. Basically, Texas is blowing out teams just as impressively as Oklahoma, but it's just not doing it with the same bells and whistles.
3. Scoring Defense
Oh sure, the offense gets the chicks, but if you're going to be impressed by the Oklahoma Sooner juggernaut of an attack, then give the same credit to a Texas defense that was the best in the Big 12 by far when it came to the fewest points allowed. Missouri was second in the Big 12 in points allowed, giving up 296, while Texas allowed just 223.
2. The Texas Tech Loss
Lost in the finish of that game was how Texas showed tremendous pluck by getting back in it in the first place. OU got the Red Raiders at home, while Texas had to go to Lubbock. It took the greatest play in the biggest game in the history of Texas Tech football, with a perfect play made by a first round-caliber receiver, to beat the Longhorns with one second to play. Yeah, yeah, yeah, ifs and buts, but if Blake Gideon had been able to hold on to a sure interception with 11 seconds to play, we wouldn't be having this discussion and we'd be breaking down No. 1 Texas vs. Missouri for the Big 12 title game. One drop and one second. That's the margin we're talking about here between a possible national championship and a BCS game with the hopes of finishing No. 2 in the final polls.
1. Texas 45 ... Oklahoma 35
There's just no getting around it. It's not like it was a fluke, and it's not like Sam Bradford and the Sooners had an off day. The OU offense rolled early, but the defense and special teams struggled in the clutch while the vaunted, supposedly unstoppable, attack scored seven points over the final 26:45. In the end, Texas won by ten points. Double digits. It's obvious, but it bears repeating. If we really are just comparing the two teams, then Texas has the slam-dunk, iron-clad winning argument. It beat Oklahoma. Oklahoma didn't beat Texas. That means the Longhorns might be sitting at home and watching two teams it beat by a combined score of 101 to 67.
