Oklahoma faces Miami at 11 a.m. Saturday at Owen Field. The early start is a source of disdain from most fan, who would prefer to sleep in a little on a Saturday before heading off to a game. Players, however, see things from a different perspective.

“I prefer the 11 a.m. games,” center Jon Cooper said. “You don’t have to sit around the hotel all day. You get up, eat, watch a little film and then go play.”

OU coach Bob Stoops agreed, but apologized to fans for being in the minority.

“Let me say this just for our fans. Selfishly, for us, it’s great. And the players as well,” he said. “You get up, you’re not having to sit around and think about it or wait for it all day. Here it is, you go. So, for us, we love it.

“But I recognize for the fans and everyone else, that it is not the best. That we have no say-so whatsoever in scheduling. That’s all TV. We just play when they tell us too.”

Almost a Hurricane

Both Miami and Oklahoma recruit nationally and have bumped heads many times over recruits.

OU tight end Jermaine Gresham was close to going to Miami before he settled on the Sooners.

“It was hard for me to pick OU over Miami,” Gresham said. “Here felt more like home, though.”

But there’s a reason why a tight end prospect would be very interested in playing for the Hurricanes. They’ve had four tight ends (Bubba Franks, Jeremy Shockey, Kellen Winslow and Greg Olsen) selected in the NFL draft’s first round since 2000.

“I knew it when I got down there,” Gresham said. “Their pictures are all over the walls. They have a great history with tight ends.”

Sooners rising

Michigan became the first team to go from the top five in the Associated Press Top 25 to unranked following last Saturday’s loss to Division-IAA Appalachian State. The Wolverines’ plummet, however, is not unprecedented.

OU started the 1959 season ranked No. 2, but dropped out of the ranking, then the top 20, after a season-opening 45-13 loss at Northwestern.

OU finished that season 7-3 and won the Big 8 championship.