August 5, 2011
Coaches Preseason Poll has Oklahoma at No.1
Now we are ready for more college football action. Despite a somewhat disappointing season, Bob Stoops and the Oklahoma Sooners are back for more.
By Stephen Lars
There’s always a good feeling for us sports fans when the first US Today preseason poll is released. It’s some sort of an omen, a sign, if you will, that the NCAA Football season is about to kick in. It’s been a while since the finale of the 2010-2011 BCS Championship series was played at the University of Phoenix. It was a beautiful sunny afternoon in January, the Oregon Ducks and the Auburn Tigers had proved to be worthy of the Fiesta Bowl in Glendale Arizona. At 12-0 and 1-0 respectively, both teams had dominated their conference and were now taking a go at the national championship. All eyes on one rising star: Cam Newton, the Auburn Tiger’s quarterback and the 2011 Heisman Trophy winner. At the end, A 19-yard field goal by Wes Byrum as time expired gave the Tigers the National Championship.
All eyes on one rising star: Cam Newton, the Auburn Tiger’s quarterback and the 2011 Heisman Trophy winner.
Now we are ready for more college football action. Despite a somewhat disappointing season, Bob Stoops and the Oklahoma Sooners are back for more. Like it is usually the case, there are very high expectations for the Sooners. Football in Oklahoma, just like it is in Texas and in Alabama, is a huge deal. A walk around the University of Oklahoma’s campus in Norman makes it quite evident that it all goes around one single sport: football. So it really wasn’t much of a surprise that the Oklahoma Sooners were the No.1 pick of the coaches poll. The Alabama Crimson Tide and the Oregon Ducks followed the Sooners in the rankings. It’s been ten years since the last time Aabama won the National Championship. They’ve been in that same scenario three times, and just haven’t been able to clinch it.
The Sooners received 42 of the 59 first-place votes in the poll to easily grab the No. 1 spot in the rankings, which count for one-third of the Bowl Championship Series formula. Alabama picked up 13 first-place votes and Oregon, which lost to Auburn in last season's Tostitos BCS National Championship Game, picked up two first-place votes. Florida State is No. 5, followed by Stanford, Boise State, Oklahoma State, Texas A&M and Wisconsin. Auburn is ranked 19th, the lowest for a defending national champion since USA Today began administering the coaches' poll in 1991.
Big expectations are going to be placed upon Landry Jones, the Sooners quarterback, for this upcoming season. He is now a much more experienced player, he had a great rookie season and now with another season under his belt, Jones could really be the guy needed in the field to steer the Oklahoma Sooners in the right direction. They’ve been ranked No.1 before, they know what it is to be the favorite, but its been 10 years and that’s got to have a weight on the squad.
Now the Sooners are going to have to find a way to work around one other issue: global warming. Curiously enough, the Oklahoma Sooners have had to change their schedule and now training begins at 6:45 am every day. The reason behind this: well, it’s getting way too hot in Norman, Oklahoma, to begging your training session at 9am. This is actually the 37th consecutive day with temperatures over 100º Fahrenheit. Trainers and coaches have to be careful not to get their athletes overheated. But heck, if the Sooners can survive the heat, maybe they have what it takes to win it all once it gets a little colder.
About the Author:
Stephen Lars is a prominent sports blogger and currently covers the Sports news, previews and handicaps for the BetIAS Sportsbook. You may reprint this article in its full content, please note no modifications to it are accepted.