Instant Analysis: Big 12 Championship Game

While most of America relishes the fact that the Bowl Championship Series has now been exposed to the fullest possible extent, pardon the Oklahoma Sooners if they don't really care. Yes, the boys from Norman performed a fine public service by throwing the BCS into complete chaos, but lost in that national storyline is this substantially important fact: Bob Stoops has won yet another league crown.

Yes, in case you missed it, Boomer Sooner has now claimed five Big XII titles in the past eight seasons; four in the past six; and three in the past four. While Ohio State and USC have had similar runs of dominance in the Big Ten and Pac-10 respectively, Oklahoma has remained the big dog in America's heartland. When Vince Young and Texas won the 2005 national title, Oklahoma got relegated to the background in the league. And when the Longhorns beat OU in the 2006 regular season, everyone assumed that the Sooners would be stuck in second for at least one more year, perhaps two.

But the Sooners never stopped fighting toward the end of last season, and they passed Texas at the wire to steal the Big XII South. Shortly thereafter, the Crimson and Cream won the conference with a victory over Nebraska in Kansas City. This year, the Sooners ruled the roost through mid-November, but a crippling loss at Texas Tech once again relegated an Oklahoma team to the back pages of the college football world. Missouri and Kansas stole OU's thunder, as the Tigers and Jayhawks played for national title positioning while the Sooners quietly repeated as South Division champions. Improbably but unquestionably, Oklahoma entered Saturday's game against Missouri in San Antonio as a spoiler; a favorite, yes, but a spoiler nonetheless. The avalanche of attention given to the No. 1 Tigers put a proud program in the background as kickoff time arrived in the Alamodome.

The Oklahoma Sooners are in the background no more. They've once again turned back all aspirants to the Big XII throne, and they're headed back to the Fiesta Bowl for a chance to expunge the bitter taste of the Boise State. With the way this team is playing, it's likely to gain some Fiesta fulfillment in suburban Phoenix.

There wasn't a lot of guile or guesswork involved in Oklahoma's dismantling of Mizzou. The Sooners took several shots from Chase Daniel and Jeremy Maclin in a fierce, fast and furious first half of hellacious hitting and ruthless defense. After the halftime break, however, it was the experienced Big XII ballclub who showed the title-game newcomer a thing or two about championship football. Oklahoma, on offense and defense, used a relentlessly aggressive approach that, before too long, subdued the tense Tigers. Offensive coordinator Kevin Wilson mixed vertical passes and power runs to grab the jugular, while defensive coordinator Brent Venables never stopped attacking Daniel with blitzes. In all facets of play, the Sooner braintrust unleashed an Oklahoma onslaught that was as tactically superior as it was psychologically effective. The Sooners didn't just score; they struck with such forcefulness that the manner of their dominance sent a message unto itself. While Missouri played one very solid half of football, the Sooners played two, as the team with more energy in the tank proved its clear and unquestioned superiority. Midway through the fourth quarter, this ballyhooed battle had long since been decided.

If you're not a Sooner fan, you can still cheer this team for potentially forcing the sport of college football to cave in (one can only hope) and at least institute a plus-one championship game after the five current BCS contests. But if you live in Norman, you're not really concerned with such peripheral matters. What counts is that Oklahoma rules the Big XII yet again, as Bob Stoops affirms his status as a bona fide coaching legend.