With the NCAA Football season close to getting underway we take a early look at the Big 12 Conference and the preseason favorites the Oklahoma Sooners who are coming off a big high from beating the Alabama Crimson Tide in the 2013 Sugar Bowl and that happened to be one of the big wins for Coach Stoops.
Thus this season as a result of that Sugar Bowl win in 2013 is different and also because the Sooner’s are seeking their first Big 12 Title since 2010, but that win in the Sugar Bowl made the team feel like champions. That and the team have had an incredible offseason from the teams dedicated players. So for you Sooner fans who Bet on College and use an online sportsbook get ready for a very exciting season in the Big 12 challenge.
In that 2013 Sugar Bowl game the Alabama team was favored by some 16 points and to get beat by the Sooners 45-31 had to be one of Alabama Coach Sabans’ worst losses. Many have said that Alabama had nothing to lose and their team really wasn’t into the game and no championship was at stake.
However, the Sooners certainly feel different as the game was very different than many projected as Oklahoma had to rally from deficits from 7-0, 10-7 and 17-14 deficits. Thus, after the win and heading now into the 2014 season he Sooners are favored to win their 9th Big 12 Title in their last fifteen seasons.
Yes looking back, the win over Alabama in that 2013 Sugar Bowl was the biggest in Bob Stoops’ college coaching career. Oklahoma and Alabama had not met since back in 2002 and 20013 when the Sooners had beat Bama on the home and home basis. The Sugar Bowl win was also his most important bowl victory in the 13 years since they won the National Championship in 2000. There also have only been four times since back in 2003 that the Sooners ended their season with a win over a team in a power five conference. Yes, Bama was one of those teams, and that does happen often since Saban and Alabama have only nine losses since back in 2008. The game score and the 45 points by Oklahoma was the second most points ever scored against a Nick Saban team in his last 15 years of coaching. But Alabama (12-1) actually had a similar experience back in 2009 as they lost to Utah (12-0) in the Sugar Bowl 31-17 as again the Tide was favored by ten points.
In the Sooners win over the Tide there were two quarterbacks with their careers in the line the night of that game, and Alabama’s QB McCarron had his worst game as he was intercepted two times and sacked seven times in the game. On the other hand the Sooner QB Trevor Knight will continued his four star dual threat in 2014 after had a four touchdown game against Alabama Crimson Tide that night.
Yes the Sooners are on a high, and are now conference favorites which they have been six time before starting back in 2001 and two times have been in the preseason top five, and twice 2004 and 2011 a preseason AP No. 1 and during that same period the Sooners won the Big 12 Title some seven times. So at this point they have to take a breath of fresh air and start their 2014 journey for the Big 12 Title.