Christmas Vacation

I took a few days off from the sports world to enjoy some quality time with my family on a mini vacation before Christmas. In a perfect world sports would come to a halt when I am not able to watch them, but it doesn’t. Here are my thoughts on what I missed from the sports scene.

Sooners Humbled by Mountaineers

I said last week that perhaps Texas was overrated and now it looks like that tag belongs to my Sooners as well.

West Virginia out hustled, out shot and out played the Sooners on their way to a 92-68 win over Oklahoma in Oklahoma City.

Kevin Pittsnogle scored 25 points and Johannes Herber added a career-high 21 to lead a strong shooting performance by the Mountaineers.

The one high point for OU was the play of Senior Taj Grey who scored a career high 31 points. I’m speechless on what else to say about this team. They have played two quality opponents and have lost to both of them.

The Sooners play Oral Roberts on Wednesday night and then will host Alabama on Saturday.

Other Big 12 Scores

Wednesday
Missouri 50
Illinois 82
It could be a long season for the Tigers. At what point to you begin to wonder if the NIT is even a possibility.

Alabama A&M 60
Nebraska 67
At least they didn’t lose!

Iowa State 83
South Florida 74
At this point you have to say the Cyclones are the best team in the North.

Arkansas 78
Texas Tech 65
I think I can hear Bobby Knight cussing from here.

Thursday
(23) Tennessee 73
Oklahoma St. 89
Best win for the Cowboys this season. They need to build on it!

Texas St. 49
(15) Texas 85
Now they know how Duke and Tennessee felt after playing them.

Northern Colorado 62
Kansas 85
Jayhawks are improving just in time for conference play.

Mercer 74
Colorado 117
The Buffalos have the second best record in the conference.

Auburn 67
Texas A&M 72
This was a solid win for the Aggies who I believe are going to make a solid run this season.

Iowa St. 81
Northwestern St. 77
Cyclones had a busy week!

Friday
Iowa State 87
Colorado State 80
I bet they are ready for a few days off.

Big 12 Power Rankings
This is how I rank the teams based on how they played this past week.
1. Texas A&M 8-0
2. OSU 8-3
3. Texas 9-2
4. Iowa State 9-3
5. Colorado 8-1
6. Oklahoma 6-2
7. Nebraska 9-2
8. Kansas State 7-2
9. Kansas 6-4
10. Texas Tech 6-6
11. Missouri 4-4
12. Baylor 0-0

Heupel Returns to Sooners

The man who helped lead the Sooners to the 2000 National Championship is returning to Norman to become quarterbacks coach. Josh Heupel will fulfill the departed Chuck Long’s responsibilities as quarterbacks coach.


Josh Heupel comes back to his alma mater after spending one season as the tight ends coach at Arizona. Before going to UA, Heupel spent two season as a graduate assistant at Oklahoma.

“I’m extremely excited about being back here and being a part of this football program and university," said Heupel. "It was a great opportunity for me to come back and coach quarterbacks. That’s something I definitely want to get back to in my career as a coach, and there’s not a better place to do that than right here.”
Kevin Wilson will take over Long’s duties as offensive coordinator, but will remain with the offensive line.

This is a great move for the Sooners and for Josh Heupel who is a legend in Norman. Not only was he the people’s choice to coach the Sooner quarterbacks he was the best choice. Heupel is as football smart as they come and will add insight to the offensive game plan. He will also be next in line for offensive coordinator once Kevin Wilson moves on once the Big 10 comes calling.


Big 12 Begins Bowl Season 1-0

Jason Swanson threw for 307 yards and four touchdowns, one more than he had in the regular season, and the Kansas Jayhawks beat Houston 42-13 Friday night in the Fort Worth Bowl.


Houston, with record-setting quarterback Kevin Kolb, came in as the team touted for its high-powered offense. Instead, the Jayhawks had a season-high 538 yards.

This was the first bowl victory for Kansas in 10 years and more signs of improvement for the Jayhawks football team who finished the season winning four of their final five games.