• Bedlam moved back to Thanksgiving weekend

By John Shinn

Transcript Sports Writer

Oklahoma’s 2006 football schedule became official Monday and the Sooners will have two marquee non-conference games.

The Sooners will host Washington Sept. 9 and then travel to Oregon Sept. 16 to face the Pacific-10 Conference teams on back-to-back Saturdays.

It will mark the third straight season OU has played the Ducks, including last season’s Holiday Bowl in San Diego. It also marks the fifth consecutive season in which Oklahoma played at least one game against a team from the Pac-10.

“Once again we will have a very challenging schedule in 2006,” OU Athletics Director Joe Castiglione said. “The scheduling process becomes a little more complicated each year, and this one was no exception. Finding opponents and matching dates has become something of a science, but the diligence is always worth it in the end.”

OU opens the season Sept. 2 against Alabama-Birmingham, then, after the two games against Pac-10 schools, completes its non-conference slate by hosting Middle Tennessee State Sept. 23.

The Sooners will play 12 regular-season games and it was important to fill all four non-conference dates with Division-I opponents due to the strength of schedule component in the Bowl Championship Series standings.

“We’re always very aware of the strength of our schedule and if you do have BCS and national championship implications that you’re as strong as you can be,” OU coach Bob Stoops said. “I think Joe did that again. We didn’t have a lot people wanting to play us or availability, or people that were able to play us. In the end, we have two marquee games with Washington here and going to Oregon again.”

In Big 12 Conference play, OU has its regular menu of games against the Big 12 South, but rotates into three opponents from the North Division.

Iowa State comes to Owen Field Oct. 14 and Colorado does the same Oct. 21. The Sooners travel to Missouri Oct. 28.

The Sooners will face arch-rival Texas for the 101st time Oct. 7 at the Cotton Bowl in Dallas.

While the schedule wasn’t official until Monday, OU’s game at Oklahoma State previously was scheduled for Sept. 30. That game has been moved to Nov. 25 to meet the requirements of the Big 12 Conference television agreement.

The Sooners now will have an open date before opening conference play.