It is Sunday morning, Judgment Day for the three football teams tied for first place in the Big 12 South Division. And the first piece of public evidence used in calculating the BCS standings is not encouraging for fans of the Texas Longhorns.
Jeff Sagarin has jumped Oklahoma over Texas in his updated computer rankings, which he releases through USA Today. It is one of six sets of computer rankings used to calculate the BCS standings, which will be the tiebreaker used today to decide whether Oklahoma (11-1, 7-1 in Big 12), Texas (11-1, 7-1) or Texas Tech (11-1, 7-1) represents the South Division in Saturday's Big 12 Championship Game.
Whichever of the three South co-champs is highest in today's BCS standings will meet Missouri (9-3, 5-3), the North Division representative, Saturday night in Kansas City, Mo. to decide the Big 12 title.
Sagarin's rankings are the only piece of today's BCS puzzle to come to light thus far. Five other sets of computer rankings, none of which have been made public, also factor into the BCS standings. So do the coaches poll and the Harris Interactive poll, neither of which has been released today.
As of this morning, Sagarin's computer rankings have Oklahoma at No. 1 and Texas at No. 2. Last week, the Sagarin rankings had Texas at No. 1 and OU at No. 4. The Longhorns defeated the Sooners, 45-35, in head-to-head play on Oct. 11. In the latest Sagarin rankings, the top six teams are Oklahoma, Texas, Florida, USC, Texas Tech and Alabama.
Although Alabama (12-0) is sixth in the Sagarin rankings, the Crimson Tide has been No. 1 in the BCS for the last several weeks because the team is a consensus No. 1 pick among poll voters. Alabama also held the highest BCS computer ranking last week, despite Sagarin's input.
_ Jimmy Burch
Let's make sure that I understand this correctly. Sagarin has a one-loss Florida team 3 spots higher than undefeated (and fellow SEC team) Alabama? He also has OU over Texas, yet Texas beat OU in October. Also, why is Tech even in the discussion? They get creamed in Norman, then come back the next week and have to come from behind against Baylor. The truly sad thing is that this guy's rankings help determine the National Champion. Ridiculous
Posted by: Hornedhorn | November 30, 2008 at 11:13 AM
Let the crying in Austin begin. WAAAAAHHHHHH!
Posted by: SoonerOne | November 30, 2008 at 12:29 PM
Texas was losing the ou game until the middle of the 4th quarter - only after ou had there stud defensive player hurt, and a freshman back up in.
So the beat down you act like you gave OU didn't happen.
Texas grow up
Posted by: mb | November 30, 2008 at 02:19 PM
Whether or not O.U. goes to B12 championship or not i do not like the present system. that being said, I know on paper Dallas is a "neutral" site. But for anyone who is Truly a born and bread in Okla. Sooner Fan, (even transplants who has been here awhile) Know what i mean when i say my soul knows the difference when I cross that Red River. It's intangible*
Posted by: Cranky | November 30, 2008 at 02:23 PM