Published: November 24, 2006 12:22 am            

Rooting for Aggies, working on Pokes

Oklahoma has said all the right things this week. The Sooners are facing their in-state rival in a game that could very well decide who represents the Big 12 South in next week’s conference championship game.

To the 13th-ranked Sooners (9-2, 6-1 Big 12), the one against Oklahoma State (6-5, 3-4) at 1:30 p.m. Saturday at Boone Pickens Stadium is the only game that matters.

“The game is real big,” quarterback Paul Thompson said. “Not just as far as the rivalry, but where we want to end up in the Big 12, bowl game and our overall national ranking. There is definitely a sense of urgency and a sense of focus by the coaching staff and players on the importance of this game and what we need to do to come out with a win.”

A 10-win regular season and bowl implications will be swirling around Stillwater like hot dog wrappers. But the ante could be raised considerably, depending on what happens today in Austin, where No. 11 Texas (9-2, 6-1) hosts Texas A&M (8-3, 4-3) at 11 a.m.

Should the Longhorns win, they’ll face Nebraska next week at Arrowhead Stadium in Kansas City, Mo., for the conference title. The winner secures a BCS bowl berth to the Fiesta Bowl.

However, if the Aggies, who are two touchdown underdogs, pull the upset, the Sooners will be playing the Cowboys for the South crown and the Fiesta Bowl bid.

OU knows the scenario.

“We are smart guys, we know what’s going on,” center Jon Cooper said.

Some players will even admit to becoming pretty big Texas A&M fans today.

“There’s no doubt about,” tight end Joe Jon Finley said. “We want them to win.”

But wishing and hoping aren’t things OU likes doing. It perfers to plow its own path. That’s why Sooner coach Bob Stoops and just about everyone under his command is hardly willing to acknowledge the impact the Lone Star State showdown will have on Bedlam.

“Everybody’s going to want to ask about all the different scenarios that are out there, and we really are going to have nothing to do with that,” Stoops said. “You guys can talk about them, everybody will. But in the end, all that matters to us is that we do our best this week in our preparation … and that we can be as good as we can be.

“There’s a lot of pride to be taken in finishing the year off in a positive and good way, and that’s what we’re going to work towards the entire week.”

There’s a reason for the blinders. Investing time or effort in something beyond the Sooners’ control seems like a waste of time.

No watch parties are planned and don’t expect OU to flinch if the Longhorns claim their seventh straight victories of the Aggies.

“It’s pretty much a one-game season now. Everything rides on this game. Whether it be a rivalry or not,” defensive end Alonzo Dotson said. “Coach Stoops told us to focus on this one game. Nothing else matters.”

        

• Click to discuss this story with other readers on our forums.