The Oklahoma University Sooners are like a kid on the 2011 college football predictions mountain top. The experts, those who make their living writing, broadcasting or coaching college football, are predicting big things for the Sooners in 2011 and have stuck the No.1 ranking on them in both preseason AP and USA-Today/Coaches Top-25 polls. OU was also selected favorite to win the Big 12 Conference championship by media members assigned to cover league. Of course there's a down side to being on top of the. Lots of folks want to knock you off.
Its one thing to be picked on top but it’s quite another living up to it. Luck is a factor, avoiding the injury bug and having the right talent on the field. Memories are all to clear for OU fans over losing their Heisman Trophy quarterback Sam Bradford in 2009. Bradford was thrown down by a BYU defender in the team’s season opener and fractured a collar bone. OU was never quite the same with a young Landry Jones under center.
Now a Junior, Jones is a man under center and is in Bradford’s old shoes, named to all the preseason awards watch lists and is expected to be a finalist in 2011 Heisman Trophy voting. Of course all that hinges on how well OU does as a team.
For OU to get its ninth National Championship and second under the BCS format, it has to take care of business, on the road, against the No. 6 Florida State Seminoles in Week-3 (Sept. 17). Schedule makers were smart to plan a bye week in between their Sept. 3 home opener with Tulsa and the Seminoles. A loss to FSU would definitely hurt their BCS chances. However, as part of the Big 12 they have to avoid other land mines like playing Texas in the “Red River Rivalry” and having to play another rivalry game at Oklahoma State. There are other obstacles too but three big ones come to Norman – No. 21 Missouri, Texas Tech and No. 9 Texas A&M, and road games at Baylor, Kansas and Kansas State.
It’s a long road to the New Orleans Superdome and the 2012 BCS Championship. If the stars all line up, maybe OU gets there. The bad news – their chances of getting an opponent from the SEC is a probability. How many straight BCS titles is it for the SEC – FIVE?
Oklahoma Sooners College Football Predictions and Odds:
(odds provided courtesy of BetOnline.com)
Total OU 2011 wins (over/under):10 Over (-250) Under 10 (-105)
OU odds to win Big-12 Championship:-250
OU odds to win BCS Championship: + 350
