[LVHerbie]

They won the Big 12 last year then lost to Boise St. in a crazy game in Fiesta Bowl... Finished 11-3... whats everyone's thoughts about this year?

Tommorrow's team - Texas Longhorns

[Razz]

My favorites to win the Big 12 again this year, but it's really a wide open conference. There is much consternation about OU's QB situation, and with good reason, but how do you make a QB comfortable? Have a dominant offensive line and a strong running game. OU has the best O-line in the nation, and the young RBs - I especially like Brown - gained a lot of experience during AD's injuries last year. Kelly, Iglesias, Johnson, and TE Finley give the Sooners enough weapons to keep defenses honest and occasionally light up the scoreboard if Bradford plays well.

I think a lot of people are expecting OU to just continue to be among the best defensive teams in the nation. If the Sooners can fill some holes, they will be a very serious national championship contender. But I'm not sure they have filled those holes. The front 7 is not as strong as it has been in recent seasons. Obviously losing Alexander hurts, but the D-line is much weaker as well. At some point, Gerald McCoy is going to have to get in the lineup and be as dominating as he can be.

Stoops seems to have lost some of his luster. It's not that he isn't still one of the best coaches in the game, but he's not really "Big Game Bob" any more. In the early years of his tenure, his teams would not have lost the Texas and Boise State games (I'll give him a pardon in the Oregon officiating debacle). Losing so many assistant coaches seems to have had a rather large effect on Stoops, and while he is still capable of guiding this team to the national championship, the same aura doesn't surround him, and the Sooner Magic is maybe not what it was a few short years ago.

The schedule is pretty easy. I don't really see a game where they'll be a dog. The only two lines that will be under a TD are against Texas and at Texas Tech. OU has pretty much owned TT though, so like every season a win in the Red River Shootout gives them a very good chance to run the table. Texas A&M and OSU are potential sleeper teams, and I feel both could give OU a run in Norman.

High end: 12-0, national champion
Low end: 8-4, Holiday Bowl

I think the inexperience at QB and the fact that the defense is only very good and not dominant, ultimately costs them either one or two games. 10-2 or 11-1, likely Big 12 champ, and another appearance in the BCS.

[pags11]

as razz has pointed out, if they are going to win the Big 12 they will need someone to step up at QB...

[linebacker]

My favorites to win the Big 12 again this year, but it's really a wide open conference. There is much consternation about OU's QB situation, and with good reason, but how do you make a QB comfortable? Have a dominant offensive line and a strong running game. OU has the best O-line in the nation, and the young RBs - I especially like Brown - gained a lot of experience during AD's injuries last year. Kelly, Iglesias, Johnson, and TE Finley give the Sooners enough weapons to keep defenses honest and occasionally light up the scoreboard if Bradford plays well.

I think a lot of people are expecting OU to just continue to be among the best defensive teams in the nation. If the Sooners can fill some holes, they will be a very serious national championship contender. But I'm not sure they have filled those holes. The front 7 is not as strong as it has been in recent seasons. Obviously losing Alexander hurts, but the D-line is much weaker as well. At some point, Gerald McCoy is going to have to get in the lineup and be as dominating as he can be.

Stoops seems to have lost some of his luster. It's not that he isn't still one of the best coaches in the game, but he's not really "Big Game Bob" any more. In the early years of his tenure, his teams would not have lost the Texas and Boise State games (I'll give him a pardon in the Oregon officiating debacle). Losing so many assistant coaches seems to have had a rather large effect on Stoops, and while he is still capable of guiding this team to the national championship, the same aura doesn't surround him, and the Sooner Magic is maybe not what it was a few short years ago.

The schedule is pretty easy. I don't really see a game where they'll be a dog. The only two lines that will be under a TD are against Texas and at Texas Tech. OU has pretty much owned TT though, so like every season a win in the Red River Shootout gives them a very good chance to run the table. Texas A&M and OSU are potential sleeper teams, and I feel both could give OU a run in Norman.

High end: 12-0, national champion
Low end: 8-4, Holiday Bowl

I think the inexperience at QB and the fact that the defense is only very good and not dominant, ultimately costs them either one or two games. 10-2 or 11-1, likely Big 12 champ, and another appearance in the BCS.

But as always, they will coke in the big game.

[pags11]

I believe it's choke linebacker...stoops has done a pretty damn good job over the years though...

[Checkerboard]

Bradford is a freshman, I haven't seen any stats on him yet. Nichol's not even listed on the roster and Halzle's rcord is very minimal. So the trio of QB's is in one of those situation's where the coach is waiting for one of the candidates to show they want it by earning it, etc. Watching which one gets his teammates' respect etc. it's wait and see. Hopefully for the Sooners, they'll figure it out sooner than later, because I can't see how a team can get any serious pre-season traction when the QB position is up in the air.

[bigboydan]

I see there a 2 point favorite right now against Texas in the Red River Shootout.

[ivanator]

The NCAA Division I Committee on Infractions has penalized the University of Oklahoma for major violations in its football program.

These violations involve three football student-athletes receiving payment for work not performed at a Norman, Oklahoma automobile dealership. The impermissible benefits totaled approximately $17,000 in unearned wages and led to the committee finding that the institution failed to monitor the employment of football student-athletes.

Penalties for the violations include adding two years to the university's current probationary period, a reduction in allowable financial aid, and a vacation of records for the 2005 season including a bowl game victory.

The committee stated in its report that, "although this case centered on a few violations involving three student-athletes, the committee finds this case to be significant and serious for several reasons." These reasons include the value of the extra benefits provided by a booster; the fact that the violations continued over several months, which led to two of the student-athletes competing while ineligible; and the university had appeared before the committee only one year earlier for a case in which the committee found that the institution failed to monitor the men’s basketball staff’s telephone contacts with prospective student-athletes.

The violations were intentional on the part of the involved student-athletes and the dealership's manager, who was also a representative of the university's athletics interest. Two of the involved student-athletes received payment from the dealership for time that they were participating in football practices and voluntary workouts, attending class and otherwise away from the dealership.

As a regular practice, the two student-athletes clocked in for work, left the dealership, then returned later to clock out of work. On other occasions, one of them would clock the other in or out, so that both would be paid when only one was present. Based on records obtained from the dealership, it was also found that the third student-athlete was also clocked in and paid for times that he did not work, including time that was spent participating in a scrimmage and game.

In finding that the university demonstrated a failure to monitor, the committee noted the university failed to follow established procedures for the monitoring of student-athletes' employment when it did not timely collect gross earnings statements for 12 student-athletes who notified the university of their employment at the auto dealership during the 2005 summer vacation period. It was also found that the university failed to detect that football student-athletes worked at the auto dealership during the 2004-05 and 2005-06 fall and spring academic terms.

The university disagreed that facts of the case demonstrated a failure to monitor, stating that the compliance monitoring system was adequate and effective, but could not have been expected to detect this specific situation. The university noted that the situation involved student-athletes, in concert with the dealership's manager, engaging "in a deliberate scheme to deceive both the employer's payroll system and the university's employment monitoring system in an attempt to violate NCAA rules of which they were well aware."

However, the committee found that the university "made several mistakes in a narrow, but significant area – the employment of football student-athletes at the dealership, which resulted in a breakdown of its monitoring. When such mistakes result in significant violations of NCAA legislation, as in this case, a finding of failure to monitor is appropriate and justified."

The committee stated that because the dealership was the apparent largest employer of student-athletes, the university should have undertaken more extensive efforts to monitor the student-athletes' employment. It was noted that the university relied on the initiative of the football student-athletes to register their employment with the school as the only means of triggering the monitoring process. The committee also stated that the delay in detecting the violations meant that two of the student-athletes were able to compete during the entire 2005 season and practice during the spring of 2006.

In determining the penalties, the Committee on Infractions considered the university's self-imposed penalties and corrective actions. The penalties, some of which were self-imposed by the institution and adopted by the committee, are as follows:


-Public reprimand and censure.

-Two additional years of probation to be added to the conclusion of the institution's current probationary period. As a result, the institution's extended probationary period will expire on May 23, 2010.

-The institution permanently dismissed two student-athletes from the football team at the point when it determined they had knowingly and willfully been involved in receiving payment for work not performed. The third student-athlete had been previously dismissed for violations of team rules (self-imposed by the university).

-During the 2006-07 academic year, the university did not re-award or reallocate the financial aid awarded to the two dismissed student-athletes, resulting in a reduction of two scholarships in football (self-imposed by the university). The university shall further reduce football scholarships by two for each of the 2008-09 and 2009-10 academic years. This limits the university to a total of 83 football scholarships for those two years.

-Vacation of all wins in which the two ineligible student-athletes competed during the 2005 football season. The individual records of these student-athletes shall be vacated as well. Further, the university's records regarding football as well as the record of the head coach will be reconfigured to reflect the vacated wins and so recorded in all publications in which football records for the 2005 season are reported, including, but not limited to, university media guides, recruiting material, and university and NCAA archives. Finally, any public reference to these vacated contests, including the bowl game, won during this time shall be removed from athletics department stationary, banners displayed in public areas and any other forum in which they may appear.

-The institution disassociated the dealership's manager who supervised the student-athletes at the center of this case. This period of disassociation will be for at least five years (until Aug. 21, 2011) (self-imposed by the university).

-The committee further requires that the dealership manager be restricted from supervising or otherwise overseeing, in an employment capacity, any of the university's student-athletes during the five-year period.

-The university will reduce the number of football coaches who can recruit off campus by one during the fall 2007 evaluation period (self-imposed by the university).

The Committee on Infractions consists of conference and institutional athletics administrators, faculty and members of the public. The committee independently rules on cases investigated by the NCAA enforcement staff and determines appropriate penalties. The committee's findings may be appealed to the Infractions Appeals Committee.

Members of the Committee on Infractions who reviewed this case are Paul Dee, director of athletics at the University of Miami, formerly the university's general counsel, and acting chair; Eileen Jennings, general counsel at Central Michigan University; Alfred "Jim" Lechner, Jr., attorney with the Westfield, N.J., law firm of Lerner David and formerly a federal district judge in New Jersey; Gene Marsh, James M. Kidd Sr. Professor of Law at the University of Alabama, Tuscaloosa School of Law; Thomas Phillips, attorney with the Austin, Texas, office of the law firm Baker Botts and formerly the chief justice of the Texas Supreme Court; Bonnie Slatton, professor of physical education and sport science, University of Iowa; and Dennis Thomas, the commissioner of the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference and formerly director of athletics at Hampton University.

-Courtesy NCAA

So if i read this right ... the Ducks won the 05 Holiday Bowl because Bomar was QB'in, right?

[Willie Bee]

I don't think they give Oergon or the other teams the win in those games; they just take the wins from OU's and Stoops' records.

Everyone at the car dealership who was in on this should be banned from all NCAA athletic events for life and face fines for their involvement.

[bigboydan]

That whole scene back in 05 was a mess with OU. The damage was done, but the school still profited from the scandal, and will not learn from it's mistake at all I'm sure.

[austintx05]

I see there a 2 point favorite right now against Texas in the Red River Shootout.

ha ha..funniest shit I have heard in a while

[Razz]

I see there a 2 point favorite right now against Texas in the Red River Shootout.

Wow, that's waaay short. I'm not much for these preseason plays, but that line has to be at least 7 by the time it's played.

[BrentCrude]

Remember the character Pigpen from Peanuts cartoons and how he always had a cloud of dirt and dust hanging over his head?It reminds me of Oklahoma football where there is always a dirty dusty scandal cloud hanging over their head.I can see real cyclone dust bowl tornado dust hanging over Oklahoma but not scandal dust.

Barry Switzer was the typical Tarkanian type coach where he would scour the ghettos and prison system to get players just to make him rich,famous and successful.When some gangsta rapper like Buster Rhymes would get in trouble bringing a machine gun to put in his football locker Barry would say,he's a good boy that's just missunderstood.Instead of a kid that wants to be a tough guy giving himself a nickname of a rapper,rappers gave themselves Oklahoma football players names as was the case with Busta Rhymes.A couple years ago Buster was living in my area and he was driving a dump truck for a construction company and was on angel dust threatening to kill people and driving down the wrong side of the road.

Then you have all these kids like White the QB from a few years ago that are all fathers of a few kids before day 1 at Oklahoma.What about Mr.conservative family values quarterback JC Watt the former congressman who was tabbed to be the 1st black president by the republicans who fathered so many kids while playing in the CFL it made him look as bad as Shaun Kemp.

Now you have all these kids getting paid by car dealers for keeping the polar bears out of the car lot.This stuff goes on with every program but why on earth can't Oklahoma learn to conceal violations better and cover things up better with their prison colony football program.

[bigboydan]

Wow, that's waaay short. I'm not much for these preseason plays, but that line has to be at least 7 by the time it's played.

I was sorta shocked myself when I seen the Golden Nugget released this line at only a 2 point chalk Razz.

[austintx05]

Wow, that's waaay short. I'm not much for these preseason plays, but that line has to be at least 7 by the time it's played.

your telling me that OU is gonna be a 7 point fav?

[austintx05]

If you think OU is a TD fav over Texas and you like OU, then have fun wasting your money

[Razz]

your telling me that OU is gonna be a 7 point fav?

Well, I wasn't telling anyone in particular, and it may not be 7 because Texas is a pretty public team as well, but I will guarantee that Oklahoma -2 isn't available on October 6.

[Razz]

If you think OU is a TD fav over Texas and you like OU, then have fun wasting your money

It's hard to believe considering how both schools have been among the elite for the past decade, but in that time period, there hasn't been a game decided by single digits. So, from that standpoint, laying 6, 7, 8, whatever with OU wouldn't be a catastrophic mistake.
But I do actually think the Red River Shootout will be a close game this year. Both teams are well-equipped to stop the other's main offensive weapons, so a 20-17 score or something would be what I would expect at first glance. But setting a line less than OU -4 is going to result in very one-sided action.

[austintx05]

then have fun losing

OU laying chalk is hilarous

[Curse Fire]

How many points you think the LOnghorn s are going to
be favored by austin? If its enough than may be Ill take
the Sooners in the game right bnow.

[austintx05]

I think -3 is about right

[Curse Fire]

Make it 4 and may be we can bet it up.

[Razz]

Make it 4 and may be we can bet it up.

If you find someone dumb enough to give you Oklahoma +3, I'd jump at it and ask questions later. Worst case scenario you have Oklahoma +3 +100 and Texas +4 -110. There is 0% chance of a team with a shitty defense and coach and only an average offense being favored over a team with the best OL in football, a dominant running game, a strong defense, and a great coach on a neutral field. It just won't happen.

[pags11]

razz, you are a good man...can't wait until the football season...