Texas Tech’s Dream Season Ends In 2 Weeks

From the desk of KOCO.com guy …
Call me crazy or a liar even, but Saturday shook out pretty much like I thought it would except for the Alabama win in Baton Rouge.

OU’s title hopes are still alive. OSU’s are done.

For those Cowboys, happiness is almost certainly Lubbock in the rearview mirror as Texas Tech annihilated OSU 56-20 on Saturday. Jones Stadium combined with that Mike Leach offense is a killer, and don’t think for a second that even the suddenly smokin’ hot Oklahoma Sooners would cruise in west Texas.

Tech would likely beat OU in Lubbock again this year.

However, Oklahoma will end Tech’s dream season in two weeks in Norman. It’s a guarantee, and you heard it here first. While Tech’s friendly confines are certainly formidable, the Sooners are wonderful at home under Bob Stoops, who has lost in Norman only twice in a decade at the helm of the OU football monster.

On top of that, Oklahoma is playing better football on both sides of the ball — right this very moment — than any team in the country. Including Tech. Including Florida. Including Texas and definitely including Alabama.

I’ve been a critic from time to time of defensive coordinator Brent Venables. However, whatever he’s done to retool this defense is working big time. Over the past three weeks, we’ve seen probably close to a dozen turnovers, several scores and less and less of a propensity to give up mammoth big plays.

Bravo, Brent. It’s time somebody gave you a little credit.

I say the key to the defensive turnaround is two-fold. First, they’re clearly more aggressive, and it’s caused Dominique Franks to evolve into the second coming of Derrick Strait. And, while middle linebacker Austin Box was a tad green in his first game, he was terrific on Saturday in College Station, Texas.

Now, I’ll say this next thing and prepare to duck as you throw things at me. However, I’m not sure that Frank Alexander shouldn’t supplant Auston English at DE even when English gets healthy. This Alexander kid is wonderful.

Now to offense.

Oklahoma is absolutely as good as the crew from 2003 that ripped through its regular-season schedule before falling to Kansas State and LSU to end the season. And while I am a charter member of the Mike Leach appreciation society, let me be the first to utter these words:

Kevin Wilson is the best offensive coordinator in the history of Oklahoma football. Ever.

Several points to be made here, but the foremost is that Wilson has been right-on this season in terms of knowing when to emphasize the run and when to emphasize the pass. Wilson is playing opposing defenses like teens do video games.

Wilson has become progressively more creative in establishing the run. End arounds, pitches, short passes that are essentially runs.

Wilson has implemented and utilized the no-huddle offense to near perfection. Seriously, OU has caught on to something that, I think, is the future of college offenses. The way the Sooners always go to the line of scrimmage but only sometimes go fast keeps defenses on their heels and has been key to Oklahoma’s success this year.

Now to the downside.

Bet you thought I was going to pick on those special teams. Well, I’m working on a blog entry to address that specifically for a bit later in the week. However, the downside is that even if Oklahoma wins out, it might not be enough to get a title shot.

It should be, and my $2 bet says it would be. But, it might not.

Voters and computers are equally fallible, and while the wackiness of a college football regular season serves as a decent argument against a playoff, the truth is that a college football playoff would merely expand the wackiness. A college football playoff would be the most significant development in the history of modern sports and would almost automatically become the most watched event in American sports.

Coaches like Stoops and Pete Carroll have started to clamor for it. Now, legends like Joe Paterno, whose Nittany Lions were effectively eliminated yesterday, need to shout it from the rooftops.

Get the latest on OU and OSU sports on Eyewitness News 5 at 6 and 10 p.m.

Point Differential

From the desk of KOCO.com guy …
Just taking a peek at the NBA standings before Oklahoma City plays the Utah Jazz tonight, and something stuck out to me.

The Thunder aren’t faring too bad in terms of point differential at -8.2. Oklahoma City has scored an average of 83.8 points per game and given up 92 per game.

Four NBA teams have a worse point differential than the Thunder. Care to guess?

(Answer: New Jersey, Washington, Sacramento and the Los Angeles Clippers).

However, no team is scoring at a more anemic clip than our hometown Thunder. Even the Clippers are scoring at a more efficient clip. No pun intended.

The best point differential by the way? The Los Angeles Lakers at +20.8.

Second best? Utah at +12.3.

Key To Oklahoma City Thunder’s Great 1st Quarter Vs. Celtics? 0 Turnovers.

From the desk of KOCO.com guy …
For the first time (so far) this season, I watched a good chunk of an Oklahoma City Thunder game with my remote in hand.

It was like watching an NCAA Tournament game where the 16 seed is playing the top seed, and the underdog hangs around — even takes a lead — only to see the dream disappear essentially by halftime.

And, it was thus: Oklahoma City led the world-champion Boston Celtics 29-21 at the end of the first quarter.

By a mile, it was the best ball the Thunder had played all season.

But the champion Celts are the champs for a reason. They’re smooth, and they run a brilliant inside-outside offense. However, Boston’s defense is the killer app here, and they clamped down on the Thunder in the second quarter, converting that 29-21 deficit into a 51-44 halftime lead.

Seriously, the second half was essentially an NBA-game-going-through-the-motions, and I flipped through most of the end of the third quarter into the fourth. I’m prepared to do that often this season.

However, let’s look at what made that first quarter cook:

• EIGHT Thunder players scored.
• SIX of those players had more than 2 points.
• Earl Watson had THREE assists in the first quarter alone.
• ZERO turnovers.

For as much as Russell Westbrook has looked promising, when Watson is working to get scorers open, the Thunder offense is succeeding.

But what made the first quarter against Boston successful for Oklahoma City last night was the lack of turnovers. The Thunder valued the basketball. Just check out what happened while Boston went on a 9-0 run to open the second period:

• 10:54 – Mason turnover. Stepped out of bounds.
• 10:21 – Mason turnover. Lost ball.
• 10:00 – Green turnover. Bad pass.
• 9:33 – Weaver turnover. Lost ball.

There is no doubt that Boston is a great club, and their offense was really a thing of beauty to watch. However, what Oklahoma City fans should take away from last night is that when this Thunder team values the basketball, it can be pretty darned good.

They can even hang with the champs, at least for a little while.

Auston English Out At Least 2, Maybe 3 Weeks

From the desk of KOCO.com guy …
Oklahoma’s pass rush just took a big hit.

Coach Bob Stoops announced Monday that Auston English would miss up to three weeks and probably the next couple of games because of a leg injury suffered against Nebraska.</p.

However, Auston’s performance against the Cornhuskers is the only one this season in which he’s really made a major impact. Just my opinion.

In fact, the entire defense really had it together this weekend. Whatever they were doing, they should keep it up.

To be honest, while English’s rise to prominence on the Sooners’ defense was one of the biggest storylines of 2007, I’m not terribly concerned about his absence the next couple of games. Oklahoma’s biggest challenge against Tech is in managing the balance between stopping the Red Raiders’ running and passing games.

Besides, like Stoops noted, Frank Alexander has really played well.

Depth is nice.

Thunder Waive Former OSU Star Lucas

From the desk of KOCO.com guy …
Some breaking news out of Thunder camp this morning …

Oklahoma City Thunder General Manager Sam Presti announced today that the team has waived point guard John Lucas III.

Lucas averaged 5.0 points and 2.7 assists in three preseason contests. He was inactive for all three of the Thunder regular season games.

The Thunder roster now stands at 14.

That reminds me: If you’re interested in breaking news like this from the Oklahoma City Thunder, particularly during the day when you’re at work, why not go ahead and bookmark this blog? It might be easier if you visit us at sportsxtra.wordpress.com.

You can get the latest headlines and in-depth coverage of your Oklahoma City Thunder on Eyewitness News 5 at 6 and 10 p.m.

Russell Westbrook Sparks Thunder Victory

From the desk of KOCO.com guy …
So, how does it feel, Oklahoma City, to get that first NBA win with the new team?

Nick Collison said after OKC’s 88-85 win over Minnesota on Sunday night that it felt like any other win. The entire state of Oklahoma might disagree with that statement, but I understand his sentiment.

In an 82-game NBA season, it doesn’t pay to get too worked up about any one win or any one loss. Oklahoma City beat the Timberwolves Sunday night thanks to offensive rebounding and second-chance points, out-boarding Randy Whitman’s club 50 to 38.

And Collison was a big part of it, displaying a hustle not seen in central Oklahoma since Kelvin Sampson’s teams did in Norman. Collison and his teammates were on the floor, scrapping, going all out for the first 36 minutes, but it STILL looked like another loss for the Thunder was destined.

Then came the Russell Westbrook show.

The rookie from UCLA sparked this ball club with 14 points, much of it coming late in the third and early in the fourth quarter. He stole the ball on an errant pass from Craig Smith, took it to the hole and got the and-1 with 1:01 left in the third frame to make a 10-point Minnesota lead only seven.

That play was a major momentum turner.

But then a Mike Miller pass was stolen by Westbrook, who dished the ball to Joe Smith, who hit a jumper to make it 73-68 with only :42 left in the third.

Westbrook’s impact was felt in the fourth quarter, too, with a sweet finger-roll that gave Oklahoma City its first three-point lead ever, 76-73. However, it was a lay-up he made with 2:19 left to give the Thunder an 86-85 lead that was the most clutch.

When No. 0 is on the court, good things happen. And while Earl Watson had his best game of the season so far in terms of running the Thunder offense, this club needs a scoring spark, not just a floor manager.

I’ll be sorely disappointed if Westbrook hasn’t earned a start come Wednesday night versus the Boston Celtics.

Catch the SportsXtra crew on Eyewitness News 5 at 6 and 10 p.m., and get the latest on the Oklahoma City Thunder.

OU’s Poll Drop After Nebraska Win Bogus

From the desk of KOCO.com guy …
I can’t speak for the rest of you, but I thought Saturday’s 62-28 win over Nebraska was about the most complete game the Oklahoma Sooners have played all season.

And for their effort, they got dropped in the latest AP poll.

Somebody has to call baloney on this one.

First and foremost, no matter how well No. 2 Texas Tech is playing right now, I will guarantee — 100 percent — that Oklahoma will beat them in Norman on Nov. 22. It is darn near a certainty, just as it would be nearly as sure that Tech would beat OU in Lubbock.

Furthermore, No. 3 Penn State would do well to finish fourth in the Big 12 South.

The way new No. 1 Alabama is playing right now, I’m not sure they’d finish third in the Big 12 South. The Tide will almost certainly lose the top spot when it plays LSU in Baton Rouge.

Not trying to be a cheerleader for the Sooners or for the Big 12 in general. In fact, the best team in the country right now doesn’t even reside in the Big 12. It’s Florida.

And, I’m sorry, but USC would beat any of the Big 12 South on a neutral field. I think Tech could keep it close because of Mike Leach’s offense, but I couldn’t vouch much for the rest of the league.

However, after No. 1 and No. 2, I’d rank them with No. 3 being Oklahoma, No. 4 Texas Tech, No. 5 Texas and No. 6 Oklahoma State. My No. 7 would be Alabama, and I wouldn’t really care much beyond No. 8.

Most of you out there know the unwritten rules regarding these polls. Writers move No. 2 to No. 1 when No. 1 falls unless there is some major reason not to do so. Truth be told, I could handle the argument that says Texas Tech must be No. 3 or so, ahead of Texas, who must be ahead of OU because of head-to-head results.

However, in my mind, OU played its best game of the year on Saturday and would have whipped anybody that day on Owen Field. Anybody.

Dropping the Sooners to No. 6 while letting Penn State coast at No. 3 is bogus.

The beauty about the position Oklahoma is in this week is that it can focus on A&M and still have an extra week to think about Tech, who very well could be No. 1 when Oklahoma plays them on Nov. 22, supposing Tech beats Oklahoma State, which isn’t a given.

However, it would be the best possible scenario for Oklahoma, regardless of where the Sooners are this week. The poll drop is a bunch of baloney, but OU still controls its own fate. Pretty much.

In fact, don’t be stunned if OU isn’t No. 1 heading into Stillwater on Nov. 29.

Thunder Takes First Lead In Franchise History Vs. Rockets

From the desk of KOCO.com guy …
The Oklahoma City Thunder made history again on Saturday night by taking its first lead in franchise history.

OKC lost to the Houston Rockets 89-77 in a game that was generally closer than the score indicates. And, with :47 left in the first half, the Thunder took its first lead in a regular-season game ever on a slam dunk from Jeff Green.

Head coach P.J. Carlesimo’s bunch played really well in the second quarter and the start of the third against Tracy McGrady’s Rockets. Nevertheless, the Thunder didn’t see another lead after another Green slam dunk (both of which came on assists from Earl Watson, who looked much better than he did on Wednesday night) gave the boys in blue a 47-46 edge with 9:25 left in the third.

After the game, Carlesimo noted that Oklahoma City would have beaten many NBA teams tonight — and, he’s absolutely right. The improvement from Game 1 to Game 2 was marked.

However, what got the Thunder in good position was the team’s ability to speed up the action, even off made baskets. Houston plays primarily a half-court game, and I would have liked to see OKC take advantage of its speed a bit more.

Kevin Durant was on top of his game, too, scoring 26 points. Unlike opening night versus Milwaukee, Kevin found his rhythm early.

Bottom line: Play like this Sunday, and Oklahoma City should get its first win of the year, against Minnesota.

Be sure to catch Eyewitness News 5’s SportsXtra crew each night at 6 and 10 for complete Oklahoma City Thunder coverage.

Oklahoma-Nebraska Rivalry Needs To Happen Every Year Starting In 2010

From the desk of KOCO.com guy …
When the Oklahoma Sooners and Nebraska Cornhuskers meet up on Owen Field Saturday night, victory won’t really be in question. Oklahoma is by a mile the better team and better program in 2008.

Even if Joe Ganz and company play like they did against Texas Tech a few weeks ago, OU should win handily. Whether the Sooners cover the 22-or-so point spread is another thing.

The point spread is of no interest to me this week, although I’ll tell you what is.

Nebraska football needs to be good again. Make that great.

In the mid-1990s, my North Texas Nebraskan friends in Dallas sympathized with Sooners fans, noting that the Red Sox need the Yanks. The Giants need the Dodgers. The Huskers were coming off their third national championship in four years in 1997, and Oklahoma couldn’t manage to run its offense without committing a false start.

Well, we’re a long way from those days, and the formation of the Big 12 conference hasn’t helped to keep the Oklahoma-Nebraska rivalry great. This is a rivalry that needs to be great.

And, this is a rivalry that needs to happen every year.

And, this is a rivalry that absolutely needs to be played the day after Thanksgiving. Instead of Bedlam.

And, this needs to happen starting in 2010.

Oklahoma plays three Big 12 North teams each season on a rotating basis. It is not unreasonable to suggest that the Sooners will only have two of those teams rotate, meaning that OU will play Nebraska each year. Those who might call it unfair to one team or another should understand that college football is volatile enough that it will even itself out eventually.

My favorite memories of Oklahoma-Nebraska are, of course, Sooners’ wins. 1986. 1987. The Cale Gundy win in 1990. Oklahoma’s win in 2000 after Nebraska took a 14-0 lead.

However, the camaraderie between Sooners and Huskers is unparalleled in sports, and it adds value to this series. I don’t know many Oklahoma fans at all who think of Nebraska faithful the way Longhorns are considered.

This isn’t like OU-Texas or Florida-Georgia, which is also happening this weekend. It’s a rivalry built out of respect and history. Heck, there isn’t too much argument among pundits as to what the greatest college football game in history is.

1971, OU-Nebraska.

Bottom line is this: Oklahoma fans should root for Nebraska to really get its act together. Hopefully, Bo Pellini is the guy, and (hopefully) the Huskers have it all turned around by 2010 or soon thereafter.

No offense to Oklahoma State or the Bedlam series or any of that, but Thanksgiving weekend isn’t nearly the same as it once was without a healthy Oklahoma-Nebraska rivalry. It would be major-league old-school sort of cool to see both schools insist on playing each other every year in the name of tradition.

Prediction: Oklahoma 42, Nebraska 20.

Great Tickets Available For Sunday’s Thunder Game

From the desk of KOCO.com guy …
If you’d consider making some last-minute weekend plans, why not a trip to the Ford Center to see the Thunder take on Minnesota? Here’s what we got from our friends in Leadership Square today:

Great seats are available immediately at all price levels starting today for Sunday’s Thunder game vs. the Minnesota Timberwolves. Tickets can be purchased on-line at thunder.nba.com, at the Ford Center Box Office or by calling 800-4NBA-TIX.

Sunday’s game is a 6 p.m. start, and in addition 150 $10 tickets will go on sale at the Ford Center Box Office beginning at 4 p.m. Beginning at 10 a.m., fans can begin lining up outside the box office as 25 pairs of tickets will be given away in a random drawing at 3:45 p.m., which is part of the F-150 Drive-to-a-Sellout promotion.

All fans in attendance to Sunday’s game will receive a Thunder magnet schedule, courtesy of Gatorade.

Don’t want to put the hocus-pocus jinx on, but this is a very winnable game for the Thunder …