Sooner1984

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Take what life gives you. Boomer Sooner.

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I will.

OU - 7 football national championships
TX- 4

Lead guitarist Jerry Cantrell of Alice and Chains spent some time in Oklahoma. His dad lives in Atoka, and was the subject of the song, "The Rooster." His dad appeared in the music video, with some scenes filmed in Atoka. After high school, Jerry moved to Dallas for a while and got a job at Arnold and Morgan Music in nearby Garland, Texas.

I used to go to that store all the time as a teenager and I'm a few years younger than Jerry. I wouldn't doubt I met him and never knew who he was, which was a "nobody" at the time.

I went to that music store about 6 months ago and it was but a fraction of what it used to be in the early 80's. It was tiny, but still open, and I walked in and met 2 guys that worked there. They both knew Jerry. One of the guys went to my high school. He could play the F out of a bass, which he was playing the whole time we hung out. Even started thumping like Waymon Tisdale.

Speaking of Waymon Tisdale (RIP), he was an Okie and played basketball at Oklahoma. I saw him playing for OU one night in Norman when we were both students.

Kinda late but wanted to say nice game against UConn. Wife and I were driving around the countryside in Texas and listening on the radio, pulling for you guys. That game looked like it wasn't gonna pan out for ya, but what a great finish.

One of those deals where I felt a little better after we lost to them, the way they stuck with you and led much of the game. Anyway, hope you enjoyed the corny post!

I consider OK and TX to be southern. There's no doubt in my mind. I'm 61 and spent my whole life east of Dallas and in Norman and SE Oklahoma.

I prefer southern heritage and the southern states, including all of the traditional SEC states. Having said that, what's funny to me is both OK and TX are WAYYYY further away from yankeeville than the southeastern states. You can hop in a car in Georgia and be in Cleveland in no time. Or leave KY and be in Philly pretty quick.

Down here, we are invaded by yanks but at least we ain't neighbors to them geographically.

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I’m cool with conference champs getting an automatic bid, but not an automatic bye. If they did only one thing to improve it then this would be it.

And no Bama still wouldn’t deserve a spot. Can’t lose to Vandy and the worst OU team in a generation and expect a slot.

And in fairness, the system should also ignore rankings until Nov 1. Too many teams playing scrubs in Sept. October is the meat of the schedule and only then do you know what you have. And strength of schedule has to be a factor.

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Bolded is the recurring theme. Problem with that stance is that an SMU or Boise is never going to have enough strength of schedule to get a spot in the playoffs. It is mathematically impossible unless you're in the SEC or B1G.

I'm glad that SMU has had a great season and won't be upset if they get in the playoff - BUT - this is a school with mega deep pockets that is suddenly able to buy good players (legally) right out of their own backyards. Desoto, Duncanville, South Oak Cliff - the elite football suburbs around DFW, not to mention the pipeline they currently have into Miami neighborhoods. They can pull good talent now, which will make recruiting that much tougher for schools like Texas, OU, Arkansas, LSU, and others, thanks to NIL.

They will likely remain in the picture as a force to be reckoned with for the foreseeable future. I went to watch them play Baylor when they had Craig James and Eric Dickerson in the same backfield. It'll happen again, bank on it.

Glad you enjoyed your time with us. Great game. For y'all. :doublebird:

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Texas came to win the conference and right now nobody is really putting up much of a fight.

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You do realize you got one of the easiest SEC schedules, right? This was done because your W-L record was real sucky the past 10 years.

You're about to get a sure enough game this Saturday, loudmouth. lol

Numerous reasons. The most important? Good coaching and stability of coaching staff. The rest in no particular order:

- oil money
- one of only 2 large football programs in the state/no NFL team/meaning a lot of local support and butts in seats.
- proximity to DFW for recruiting
- large alumni base in DFW
- decent size town near OKC
- Barry Switzer, because he was a pioneer in attracting black players into the program. The best of athletes from all over the country. They liked him and respected him. This created a decades-long success in recruiting among the best players anywhere.
- there was a long time when OU's trench players were monsters and would plow down opponents, resulting in blowout victories. Like, 20 years or more.
- some of the SEC teams were not a factor during this timeframe (60's-70's-80's) which allowed OU to swoop in and snatch good players away, plus it created a clearer path to the NC game. There were years when LSU was a nobody, Bama was way down, Georgia up and down, and virtually nobody else in the SEC was a contender. Sometimes Auburn would be. Florida, maybe.
- the big hitters were USC, Penn State, Michigan, Texas, Oklahoma, Florida State, Ohio State, Miami, Nebraska. It was easier to build a dynasty because there were more scholarships allowed, and parity didn't exist.

Nobody has hit on the logistical reasons. Gameday was at SF last weekend. They make the rather short drive up to Oregon with at least two 18-wheelers full of equipment, including tons of video cameras, drones, stage platforms, chairs, desks, computers, and a video headquarters truck.

After the game in Oregon, they likely haul all of that equipment to Austin, then decide where to go next. Probably somewhere between Austin and the east coast. They are headquartered in Bristol, CT.