Oklahoma football April Fools: Five worst championship losses in Big 12 era

MIAMI, FL - DECEMBER 29: A general view of Hard Rock Stadium during the College Football Playoff Semifinal at the Capital One Orange Bowl between the Alabama Crimson Tide and the Oklahoma Sooners at Hard Rock Stadium on December 29, 2018 in Miami, Florida. (Photo by Michael Reaves/Getty Images)
MIAMI, FL - DECEMBER 29: A general view of Hard Rock Stadium during the College Football Playoff Semifinal at the Capital One Orange Bowl between the Alabama Crimson Tide and the Oklahoma Sooners at Hard Rock Stadium on December 29, 2018 in Miami, Florida. (Photo by Michael Reaves/Getty Images)
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ARLINGTON, TX – SEPTEMBER 05: Quarterback Sam Bradford #14 of the Oklahoma Sooners warms up before a game against the Brigham Young Cougars at Cowboys Stadium on September 5, 2009 in Arlington, Texas. (Photo by Ronald Martinez/Getty Images)
ARLINGTON, TX – SEPTEMBER 05: Quarterback Sam Bradford #14 of the Oklahoma Sooners warms up before a game against the Brigham Young Cougars at Cowboys Stadium on September 5, 2009 in Arlington, Texas. (Photo by Ronald Martinez/Getty Images)

#5   Jan. 2, 2007 — West Virginia 48, Oklahoma 28

Oklahoma was coming 0ff a huge 38-17 win over No. 1-ranked Missouri to capture the Big 12 Championship and went into its Fiesta Bowl matchup with No. 9 West Virginia (not yet a member of the Big 12) as the country’s No. 3 team. Unfortunately the momentum from the Sooners championship victory over Missouri didn’t carry over to the new year and the Fiesta Bowl.

West Virginia took a 6-0 first-quarter lead on a pair of long field goals and took a 20-6 advantage to the locker room at halftime. The only scoring OU could manage in the first half was a pair of field goals by Garrett Hartley.

Oklahoma scored the first nine points of the second half to narrow the deficit to 20-15, but West Virginia outscored the Sooners 28-14 the rest of the way, capping off the scoring on a 65-yard touchdown run by Noel Devine, for a 48-28 victory.

The Sooners never led in this game.

OU quarterback Sam Bradford, who was awarded the Heisman Trophy several weeks before, completed 21 of 33 passes for 242 yards and two touchdowns, but the Sooners were unable to stop the West Virginia running attack. The Mountaineers amassed 349 yards on the ground, 150 of those rushing yards coming from quarterback Pat White.