2016 - 2017 College Football Playoff and Bowls

[ljbab728]

Nothing happened to Ohio St. OU sucks in big games against quality (non b12) opponents. Clemson kicked our arses twice, badly or did you forget. Several teams not 8-4 would have beaten OU

Not surprised by your comments. You are nothing if not consistent. I guess Ohio State also sucks in big games since they got it handed to them by Clemson.
Alabama beat Auburn by 18 points. OU beat them by 16 points when Auburn took a last second time out to score a meaningless touchdown. Obviously that means OU is severely inferior.

[dankrutka]

Nothing happened to Ohio St. OU sucks in big games against quality (non b12) opponents. Clemson kicked our arses twice, badly or did you forget. Several teams not 8-4 would have beaten OU

Here we go... ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

[Eric]

Not surprised by your comments. You are nothing if not consistent. I guess Ohio State also sucks in big games since they got it handed to them by Clemson.
Alabama beat Auburn by 18 points. OU beat them by 16 points when Auburn took a last second time out to score a meaningless touchdown. Obviously that means OU is severely inferior.

Using this logic will lead everyone to the wrong conclusion EVERY SINGLE TIME!. It never works.

[SoonerDave]

Nothing happened to Ohio St. OU sucks in big games against quality (non b12) opponents. Clemson kicked our arses twice, badly or did you forget. Several teams not 8-4 would have beaten OU

Vacuous argument as you obviously can't be disproven. Clemson did not "beat our arses" twice *this* season. Maybe they would have. Maybe they wouldn't. We'll never know. All I *do* know is that there's still a respectable talent gap between the two teams I saw on the field last night and what OU has right now. There were/are NFL guys ALL OVER that field last night. OU is getting more of them, and getting better production out of them, but DL and LB still need some work.

And if you think Ohio State finished the season playing as well as they did early in the year, you're fooling yourself. Go read some national writers who have said the same thing - and they started saying it well after OU was in their rear-view mirror and before their Clemson beatdown.

No, Auburn was no world-beater, but guess what - on a national stage in a major bowl, OU beat a quality SEC team with certainly one of that league's better defenses by double digits. Pretending that isn't a good finish is being nothing less than disingenuous. Is it winning the CFP? No, of course not, but any team that starts out 1-2 could have folded its tents and made this season an absolute disaster. Regardless of the quality of the conference, OU did all they could do after that bad start, and put a really nice bow on the package for the season.

If you want to gripe about a loss, gripe about Houston. That's a game, in retrospect, we really had no business losing.

[dcsooner]

Vacuous argument as you obviously can't be disproven. Clemson did not "beat our arses" twice *this* season. Maybe they would have. Maybe they wouldn't. We'll never know. All I *do* know is that there's still a respectable talent gap between the two teams I saw on the field last night and what OU has right now. There were/are NFL guys ALL OVER that field last night. OU is getting more of them, and getting better production out of them, but DL and LB still need some work.

And if you think Ohio State finished the season playing as well as they did early in the year, you're fooling yourself. Go read some national writers who have said the same thing - and they started saying it well after OU was in their rear-view mirror and before their Clemson beatdown.

No, Auburn was no world-beater, but guess what - on a national stage in a major bowl, OU beat a quality SEC team with certainly one of that league's better defenses by double digits. Pretending that isn't a good finish is being nothing less than disingenuous. Is it winning the CFP? No, of course not, but any team that starts out 1-2 could have folded its tents and made this season an absolute disaster. Regardless of the quality of the conference, OU did all they could do after that bad start, and put a really nice bow on the package for the season.

If you want to gripe about a loss, gripe about Houston. That's a game, in retrospect, we really had no business losing.

I agree with much of what you argued regarding the talent gap, my argument exactly. The facts remain the top programs today RECRUIT on a more consistent basis 4-5 star recruits. OSU, AL, Clemson FSU, are ALL ranked preseason ahead of OU. Ala is the odds on favorite for next year. OU is viewed today as OVERRATED, why, because when you leave the average competition of the b12, they get EXPOSED. Yes Ohio State got beat badly, but they beat the hell out of us. We fire a DC who goes on to lead a NC level defense for a DC that gave up xxxx pts to TT. Beating up on KS, KSU, ISU, OSU, TT, etc does not prepare a team to play against the elite of the B10 or SEC. Leave the mediocre top heavy B12 and you will see OU relegated to 2d tier like NE and MO amd overrated Colo. BS has his statue, he is not hungry. He is good coach, but elite?don't know. Current history suggests not, he has lost to Meyer, Miles, Sweeny,beat Saban in a non championship bowl.

[TU 'cane]

Just to expound on some points above a little further:

The recruiting goes to the SEC and Clemson. Those teams had MEN out there that would spank 95% of the other schools. We're talking NFL ready recruits here. This is something that many people have been saying for the last decade about the Big12 and OU: they're not getting the 4 and 5 star recruits anymore. It's those players who in the 4th quarter have enough fuel in the tank to keep punishing the other team.

And Houston is what sunk OU. Had OU won that game and finished out their season the same way, we're talking OU at #4 or #5. My money would have been on #4 and seeing the playoffs for a second year in a row. Their resume would have been undeniable.

And in retrospect you see why games like that are so important.

[Pete]

^

To be fair, OU has 18 4-star commitments in the 2017 class so this is starting to change after a few down years in recruiting.

[SoonerDave]

^

To be fair, OU has 18 4-star commitments in the 2017 class so this is starting to change after a few down years in recruiting.

This can't be stressed enough. This is potentially a *monster* class for OU. Biggest in a long time if it holds up.

[Laramie]

This can't be stressed enough. This is potentially a *monster* class for OU. Biggest in a long time if it holds up.

Just may be the right time to elevate Lincoln Riley to head coach. You're more likely to see the 'monster' unleashed with Riley at the helm.

[TU 'cane]

^

To be fair, OU has 18 4-star commitments in the 2017 class so this is starting to change after a few down years in recruiting.

Yea, it hasn't been like that consistently though. But a CFP appearance doesn't hurt. Amd beating an SEC team in a high profile bowl certainly helps. It's a good trend to keep. I'd like nothing more than to see Stoops and OU hoist another national champ trophy soon.

[SoonerDave]

Just may be the right time to elevate Lincoln Riley to head coach. You're more likely to see the 'monster' unleashed with Riley at the helm.

I have believed for a long time that Stoops wants very much to win *one more* title at OU before stepping down. The 2017 class likely represents the foundation for his next best chance over the next three or four years. Good or bad, title or not, by then, I think he'll be done. And I think OU would be absolutely nuts not to do whatever it can to keep Riley to take over the reins when Bob does finally call it a career. It may be a tricky balance - it'll be very, very hard to keep Riley after next year unless he just wants to stay for the opportunity to follow Bob.

[SoonerDave]

Yea, it hasn't been like that consistently though. But a CFP appearance doesn't hurt. Amd beating an SEC team in a high profile bowl certainly helps. It's a good trend to keep. I'd like nothing more than to see Stoops and OU hoist another national champ trophy soon.

I don't remember the exact numbers, but I believe a good chunk of the higher-profile recruits (including Mixon) signed directly after that big Sugar Bowl win over Bama. So, yeah, a major bowl win over a quality opponent - even given that Auburn wasn't even a feint shadow of Bama - plays in those kids' minds.

One thing the OU 2017 class still needs? One or two big-time DL types. As good as it is, looking at our D-line and comparing it to those guys who were playing Monday night was a huge reminder how OU had slipped in that area the last few years. Been a long time since we had anyone like a Tommie Harris in there.

[dcsooner]

Just to expound on some points above a little further:

The recruiting goes to the SEC and Clemson. Those teams had MEN out there that would spank 95% of the other schools. We're talking NFL ready recruits here. This is something that many people have been saying for the last decade about the Big12 and OU: they're not getting the 4 and 5 star recruits anymore. It's those players who in the 4th quarter have enough fuel in the tank to keep punishing the other team.

And Houston is what sunk OU. Had OU won that game and finished out their season the same way, we're talking OU at #4 or #5. My money would have been on #4 and seeing the playoffs for a second year in a row. Their resume would have been undeniable.

And in retrospect you see why games like that are so important.

Resume undeniable? Pleez. How can a resume that includes perennial CFB 2d tier teams like ks, isu, tt, baylor, ksu even osu except the last 10 yrs compare with competing against usc, cal, asu, stanford, tam, ga, fla, mich, ne, oh st, mich st , wisc etc not even close

[TU 'cane]

Resume undeniable? Pleez. How can a resume that includes perennial CFB 2d tier teams like ks, isu, tt, baylor, ksu even osu except the last 10 yrs compare with competing against usc, cal, asu, stanford, tam, ga, fla, mich, ne, oh st, mich st , wisc etc not even close

I'll summarize this theory:
A win over #15 Houston would have set up nicely.
A one loss OU (Big12 winner who finished #7) whose one loss would have been to a top four (at the time AND finishing) Ohio State.

It's really not that hard to surmise OU would have had a darn good chance at making the playoffs had they also beat Houston. A pre conference schedule that included two top 15 teams - one being a top 4, was the best pre-conf schedule in FBS. That would have been part of an undeniable resume.

[dcsooner]

I'll summarize this theory:
A win over #15 Houston would have set up nicely.
A one loss OU (Big12 winner who finished #7) whose one loss would have been to a top four (at the time AND finishing) Ohio State.

It's really not that hard to surmise OU would have had a darn good chance at making the playoffs had they also beat Houston. A pre conference schedule that included two top 15 teams - one being a top 4, was the best pre-conf schedule in FBS. That would have been part of an undeniable resume.

Getting to a playoff because you play a weak conference schedule is nothing to covet, because as we have seen, when OU plays against big boys they are outmanned and out toughed. Those are the facts I watched it live at the Orange bowl last year, OU was simply outmanned. Why can't fans be honest and go about trying to improve the roster across the board to compete outside the b12

[Bellaboo]

Getting to a playoff because you play a weak conference schedule is nothing to covet, because as we have seen, when OU plays against big boys they are outmanned and out toughed. Those are the facts I watched it live at the Orange bowl last year, OU was simply outmanned. Why can't fans be honest and go about trying to improve the roster across the board to compete outside the b12

Kind of like Auburn this year or Alabama a couple years ago right ?

[traxx]

We fire a DC who goes on to lead a NC level defense for a DC that gave up xxxx pts to TT.

I'm not saying Bob hiring his brother back was the right move, but to be fair, Brent wasn't setting the world on fire when he was here either.