Just Win a Bowl

The Sooners played in the national championship game last year. They had the Heisman Trophy winner. They won their sixth Big 12 championship and set a handful of NCAA scoring records. Life was good. But with that Heisman winner (and a bunch of others) injured, OU is trying to crawl out of a recession. Will players care? Will recruits notice? "As far as players, I think we care about wherever we're going," DeMarco Murray said. "... I think we're gonna be there (as) just another game to showcase what we're about. But I think everyone's fired up to play." That's actually a pretty good argument. Show up and get embarrassed by the third- or fourth-best team in the Pac-10, and that only hammers an image of a program that already has endured a decade's worth of postseason meltdowns. Prepare right, play hard and win the game, and the bowl criticisms will slow, at least. As a OU supporter I feel that this is a good way to work for next season since they are so young. Honestly there are at least three measurables for OU in winning the Sun Bowl. 8-5 record versus 7-6 record. The latter would be the most losses ever under Bob Stoops and match his fewest wins. An 8-5 team that lost four games by a touchdown or less to ranked teams on the road, hammered its ranked rival 27-0 and won its bowl game is more likely to be ranked high to start 2010 than a team that finishes 7-6 and mails in its bowl trip. That should be fuel for the underclassmen. Just win a bowl. It seems like another lifetime, but OU's last bowl victory was the Holiday Bowl. Not the Fiesta. Not the Orange. Not the Sugar. Not the national championship. That came against the No. 6 team in the nation, Oregon, which was snubbed by the BCS. I just hope they all come to play because only three current Sooners have participated in a bowl win. Since English is hurt that leaves two players on the field who have tasted postseason win. Boomer Sooner!