Oklahoma football: Where does OU rank among best college teams of every decade?
By Chip Rouse
Bob Stoops to the rescue; returns OU to the spotlight in the 2000s decade
The 1990s were a washout as far as Oklahoma football was concerned. The Sooners hired Bob Stoops in 1999 for his first head-coaching assignment. The veteran defensive coach led the Sooners to a 7-5 season his first year, but the 2000 OU team went 13-0, including a 12-3 victory over Florida State to win Oklahoma’s seventh national championship. That was just the first of eight seasons with 11 or more wins and six Big 12 championships. Also during the decade, Oklahoma appeared in four BCS national championship games.
Connelly’s assessment of the Oklahoma teams of the first 10 seasons of the new century was No. 2 overall (seven top-five finishes, one No. 1) behind — OUch!! — No. 1 Texas (six top fives, one No. 1). According to Connelly’s assessment, the Sooners did not have one of the top-five individual teams of that decade, but the 2008 OU team (with Heisman winner Sam Bradford) ranked No. 2 among the five-best offensive teams of the early 2000s. (2005 USC, which hammered the Sooners 55-19 in the 2005 BCS National Championship, was ranked the best offensive team of the 2000s decade.)