NCAA: Oklahoma Wins National Title, Is A Big XII Team Next?

By Stephen Baker CPKSports Senior Writer

What a week! There is literally too much to keep track of, I want to write about a thousand different columns, so forgive me as my mind wanders a bit. First things first, though. I figure I’ve written so much on college football, I should at least wrap the whole season up.

I have mixed emotions about Oklahoma’s Orange Bowl win. As much as I would have loved to see the BCS fail miserably, it still did a poor enough job to keep the idea of a playoff in the minds of fans and columnists throughout the country. Besides, I had a column all ready going through the plus and minuses of each one loss team if FSU managed to win and I had to put that one in the trash bin.

While watching the game, I couldn’t help but think of the 1992 Sugar Bowl. You remember that one, don’t you? Miami came in as a heavy favorite, and they left a heavy loser to the Alabama Crimson Tide. It marked the resurgence of the SEC as the dominant football conference, and the end of the Miami dynasty. The SEC would go on to send three separate teams to the title game, all of them winning a title one time. Miami wound up on probation and in a downward spiral that didn’t reverse itself until Butch Davis showed up on campus.

So will this mark the same kind of seismic shift in college football? Well, Florida State probably won’t go on probation. Despite what Bobby Bowden’s critics say, his program is actually fairly clean. However, the Noles will lose more talent this year than they ever have before. They lose Dunn, Weinke, and Minnis. The players taking their place have almost no experience: La Motte (2 attempts), Chancey (71 rushes), and Bell (44 catches). OK, so they are okay at the receiver slot, but there better be somebody hiding in the roster who is ready to be the next star at the other positions.

The defense loses a lot as well, and next year the schedule has a visit to Clemson and Florida. I am in no way suggesting the Noles are about to fall off the map but next year might be the first time in a long time that FSU is not in the national title hunt going into the bowl season. Shudder to think, FS might have to settle for a top ten finish instead of top five.

Oklahoma? Things look bright. Aside from some stupid speculation about Stoops taking the Ohio State job, the coaching staff is in place to keep the Sooners competitive for years to come. They lose talent for sure, but the cupboard wasn’t exactly stocked, and Stoops is already working on one of the best recruiting classes in the country. Stoops proved he can coach, it looks like he can recruit as well. How good will the Sooners be when they have blue chippers at all of the positions?

Before we award them the next several titles, take a gander at the Big XII. The conference created as a super-conference that would dwarf the college football landscape, finally looks like it will live up to its billing. Mack Brown is building a power at Texas, Nebraska is Nebraska, and Kansas State can rightfully claim its spot among the top programs in the country. Colorado and Texas A&M will always insure quality depth, hopefully, so we can ignore Baylor, a team which has no business in this conference.

Will the conference provide us with three different champions just as the SEC did in the 90s? I wouldn’t bet against Nebraska and either K-State or Texas grabbing one as well doesn’t seem unlikely. I’m not ready to anoint them the power conference, not with the lousy performance of their underbelly out of conference. However, I would take their top four over any other conference.

Now, if you’ll excuse me, it seems that Mario is scoring another goal, and there is another college basketball game coming down to a buzzer-beater.

Article courtesy of CPKSports.com