Oklahoma football: Now it’s time to fall back and root for Texas to lose
By Chip Rouse
A week or so ago I wrote that Oklahoma football fans should bite the bullet and root for the hated Texas Longhorns to win out the remainder of the regular season.
The theory was that by winning out in the regular season, Texas would remain highly ranked (they were No. 6 when I suggested that Sooner fans root for the hated Horns), that the Sooners would have the opportunity to avenge the Red River loss in a Big 12 Championship rematch and that would be enough to earn them a return ticket to the College Football Playoff.
Two weeks ago, the prospect of a rematch with a one-loss Texas in the Big 12 championship game appeared to be the best pathway the Sooners had of wrangling one of the coveted four Playoff spots and a hill that, with each passing week this late in the season, is getting steeper to climb.
Now, with back-to-back losses by Texas in as many weeks, a title-game rematch and win over the hated Horns would earn Oklahoma nothing more than bragging rights.
Currently sitting at No. 6 in the second week of the College Football Playoff rankings, Lincoln Riley and the Sooners (8-1, 5-1) still have all their season goals out in front of them, but the Playoff window is closing fast, as is the 2018 season.
Oklahoma should be able to take care of business at home the next two weekends against in-state rival Oklahoma State and last-place Kansas, which leaves the showdown at West Virginia (7-1, 5-1) the day after Thanksgiving as the defining game of the Sooners’ season. Not only will that be a must win game for Oklahoma, but it also likely will set up a rematch of the same two teams the following weekend in Arlington, Texas, for the Big 12 championship and the conference’s prime postseason bowl spot.
No. 7-ranked West Virginia’s remaining games are at home this weekend against a reeling TCU team and at Oklahoma State the following weekend before hosting Oklahoma on Nov. 23 in a prime-time TV game.
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Texas (6-3, 4-2) and Iowa State (5-3, 4-2), who own wins over OU and West Virginia, respectively, are not yet out of Big 12 contention with two losses, but the Sooners and Mountaineers clearly have the inside track with three games to go.
The Longhorns’ College Football Playoff hopes are long gone, but they still have a path to reach the Big 12 Championship game. And if Texas were to earn a spot in the conference title game, it tragically would be at OU’s expense.
The Horns still have difficult games remaining with Texas Tech there and at home against a good Iowa State team. If they survive the next two weekends and then close out the regular season with a win over Kansas, the Longhorns would finish with a 7-2 record in the Big 12.
Let’s say that would happen and one-loss West Virginia beats Oklahoma on the final weekend of the regular season. All things being equal, Texas would earn the tiebreaker over the Sooners by virtue of its head-to-head win in this year’s Red River game, and it would be the Longhorns who earn a championship rematch, only with West Virginia.
So looking ahead, Texas and West Virginia are the only real obstacles that remain in the way in Oklahoma’s 2018 championship journey. Unfortunately, the Texas ship has already sailed, and Sooner fans can only hope it takes on more water as the sun quickly sets on the college football season.
The Sooners can still do something, however, about West Virginia. The problem is, they’ll have to do it two times over to claim their 12th Big 12 title and fourth consecutive conference crown.