Teams that win bowl games, however, are the ones that are better focused on getting ready for the last night of the trip — the game — rather than what goes on before it.

This year’s group of seniors knows the BCS stigma that has been attached to OU because of its BCS failures. They’ve been part of the last two Fiesta Bowls and some, if they’ve redshirted, go back to the 2005 Orange Bowl.

They were the ones who went to Stoops last week and told them wanted earlier curfews and less free time this season.

“There’s a lot on the line and it’s bigger than any of the players,” safety Nic Harris said. “It has a lot to do with the stigma that’s been placed on OU in big games. We pretty much want to silence anybody who has had anything to say by coming out and taking care of it.”

Stoops likes what he’s seen in the handful of practices the Sooners have had since the Big 12 championship game. The focus they showed throughout the regular season was still there.

If it stays, this might be the season that finally ends without the need for explanations about what went wrong.

“We’re going down to Miami for a week, but there isn’t going to be any party-type atmosphere,” Franks said. “We’re going down there for one thing — to win a national championship.”