Beware of Underdog

[HuskerfaninOkieland]

Tulsa World

 

Beware of underdog

By JOHN KLEIN World Sports Columnist

12/1/2006

 

OU is on a seven-game win streak and is ranked 11 spots higher than Nebraska. The Sooners won the South Division, widely regarded as tougher than the North. And OU is a 3-point favorite to beat the Huskers. But history shows the Big 12 title game is unpredictable, and it's not always kind to favorites.

Oklahoma is a slight favorite to beat Nebraska and advance to the Fiesta Bowl, but that should not be a comforting thought for the Sooners.

 

The underdog has won four out of 10 games in the Big 12 Championship and three of those upsets were stunning defeats of potential national champions.

 

Thus, OU's slight edge among the betting public should not be interpreted as anything more than a random number for entertainment purposes only.

 

The Big 12 Championship Game was an idea born out of the merger between the Big 12 and Southwest Conference.

 

It followed the formula devised by the Southeastern Conference when it expanded to 12 teams.

 

These championship games have expanded to virtually all of the major college football conferences.

 

However, as is often pointed out by the favorite, these games can be dangerous and devastating for teams that figure to play in even higher-stakes games.

 

The Big 12 has played in five of the last six national championship games (Oklahoma won in 2000 and Texas in 2005).

 

However, the Big 12 Championship game cost the league a spot in the title game in 1996 (Nebraska was upset by Texas) and in 1998 (No. 2 Kansas State was beaten by Texas A&M in overtime).

 

It nearly cost OU in 2003, when the Sooners were blasted by K-State. Oklahoma dropped to No. 3 in the human polls but was able to hold on to its spot in the national-championship game with its computer numbers.

 

In 2001, third-ranked Texas faced Colorado in the title game and was upset 39-37. That allowed fellow conference member Nebraska to sneak into the national-title game, even though the Huskers didn't even win the Big 12's North Division.

 

There's little question that favorites shouldn't feel too confident heading into a Big 12 title game. For a variety of reasons, including the advantage of being the underdog in a high-stakes game, some factors work against the team with the bigger reputation.

 

Some Oklahomans have already started making reservations for Phoenix, where the champion will play in the Fiesta Bowl.

 

One can assume the Cornhuskers are well aware of that type of thinking. The underdog usually feeds off any perceived snub. In a game when neither team has a clear advantage, it can often mean the difference.

 

That may not be the case this year.

 

Since OU lost quarterback Rhett Bomar in a scandal, the Sooners have been considered longshots in the Big 12 race. Stoops has used that underdog role all season to rally the Sooners through the controversial loss at Oregon and the injury to Adrian Peterson.

 

No one, OU players included, consider the Sooners to be the overwhelming favorites.

 

"I think we were maybe underappreciated with the strength of our team and the overall depth of the team and the strength of the youth on the team and how good they are," said Oklahoma coach Bob Stoops. "All of that was maybe a little undervalued, and everyone wanted to focus on Adrian.

 

"There's more to it than that. I think our team showed that. Guys in all instances have stepped up and have been very good."

 

Stoops, long an opponent of the conference championship game unless every league has one, knows firsthand the devastation sometimes caused by this game.

 

The Sooners have been the biggest victim of the game, and that memory surely burns bright with Stoops and some players. In 2003, OU was more than a three-touchdown favorite over Kansas State but lost by four touchdowns.

 

The Sooners were being touted in most circles as one of the greatest, if not the best, college football team in history.

 

It was considered highly unlikely, virtually impossible, that anyone could beat OU in the Big 12 or national championship games.

 

In fact, Oklahoma would go on to lose both.

 

K-State's Darren Sproles ran for 235 yards and Heisman winner Jason White was harassed into one of the worst performances of his career in a 35-7 OU loss.

 

Oklahoma's strength was considered so overwhelming the Sooners were able to hold on to the No. 1 rating in the BCS and gain a berth in the Sugar Bowl opposite LSU. USC was ranked No. 1 by the humans, who actually saw the destruction of OU in the Big 12 title game, but the Trojans were only No. 3 by the computers.

 

Of course, LSU went on to a 21-14 victory to simply confirm what had been seen in Kansas City.

 

But this current OU team is far different. It enters the conference title game as one of the biggest surprises in the nation. Until Texas lost its last two games, OU seemed destined for the Cotton Bowl at best.

 

"I've been a part of Big 12 Championships here with Jason White and Mark Clayton, in that era, but it's kind of like a new era with not as many recognizable guys maybe from the outside," said Thompson. "It's a new era of players and a young team."

 

Oklahoma's demise in 2003 is not the only example of a Big 12 team being knocked from the elite in the championship game.

 

In fact, the 2003 Sooners are not the only No. 1 team knocked off in the championship game.

 

Kansas State was ranked No. 1 in the ESPN/USA Today poll and No. 2 in the Associated Press rankings in 1998.

 

The Wildcats, in one of the great stories in college football history, had gone from the virtual bottom of the sport to the top spot under coach Bill Snyder. They came to the 1998 championship game in St. Louis needing a victory over No. 10 Texas A&M to reach the national championship game. The Aggies won in double overtime, 36-33.

 

The Big 12 should have gotten the clue that a championship game could be a dangerous thing for highly ranked teams in its very first league championship game.

 

Nebraska came into the 1996 Big 12 title game ranked third and was a good bet to reach the national championship game.

 

The Huskers were big favorites over unranked Texas. However, the Longhorns were confident all week leading up to the game, and Texas quarterback James Brown had said the Horns would win.

 

It wasn't just youthful bravado.

 

Brown even stood near midfield as Nebraska came onto the field before the game, taunting the Huskers.

 

Many believed Nebraska was about to teach the brash Longhorn quarterback a lesson. Instead, Brown's Longhorns pulled an unlikely 37-27 victory.

 

The other Big 12 upset was when No. 9 Colorado denied No. 3 Texas a spot in the national championship game with a 39-37 victory in 2001. That was the year both Oklahoma and Nebraska, the teams many believed might be headed for a rematch in the national championship game, were knocked off in their season finales (OU by OSU and Nebraska by Colorado).

 

It goes without saying the league championship game is certainly the way a team can fulfill some dreams. The winner, no matter how unlikely or lowly ranked, gets a BCS bowl berth.

 

But for those with high expectations it is filled with all of the dangers of an ambush.

 

"There's no magic formula when you get into a game like this, not at this juncture, not at your 13th game in the year," said Nebraska coach Bill Callahan.

 

[ttheKid1*18]

We were involved in one of those upsets in 96, so OU better watch out. Should be a great game though. GBR

[Huskrz65]

"The Big 12 Championship Game was an idea born out of the merger between the Big 12 and Southwest Conference."

 

That would be the merger of the Big 8 and the SWC...dumbass.

[BIGREDIOWAN]

I have a good feeling about tomorrow!!!!!

[tattooedhusker]

doesnt' SWC stand for Southwest Conference?!

[Huskrz65]

So is it SWAC? Southwest Athletic Conference? Regardless, merging them with the Big 8 screwed everything up. "Welcome to the Big 8 my bastard children."

[BIGREDIOWAN]

[hack]

Some Oklahomans have already started making reservations for Phoenix, where the champion will play in the Fiesta Bowl.

 

who would have guessed that there were that many fans of Nebraska down there.

[I See Red People]

Yeah, the big 12 did not merge, the big 8 did. Merging the big 12 you would have ended up with like a scattered 16.