How ’bout them Cowboys! Coach Jimmy Johnson made those words famous with Dallas during its run to Super Bowl XXVII. But it’s another squad Johnson once coached — Oklahoma State — that now deserves the exclamation.
But are the Cowboys getting enough consideration as a legit contender?
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There should be plenty of anticipation for a matchup of the nation’s top two undefeated teams, as well as the No. 2 scoring defense of LSU and the No. 2 scoring offense of Oklahoma State.
Imagine LSU’s brilliant corners, Tyrann Mathieu and Morris Claiborne, trying to contain Oklahoma State quarterback Brandon Weeden and wideout Justin Blackmon. Imagine LSU coach Les Miles, formerly of Oklahoma State, going against his old team and former offensive coordinator Mike Gundy, now the Cowboys’ coach.
There’s plenty to like about LSU-OSU. But when people hear “OSU,” they first think of true college football blue blood Ohio State.
Is that what all this Oklahoma State aversion is all about? Is it that hard to get behind the idea of non-royalty in the title game? Difficult as it is to imagine, since the BCS title game was established in 1998, there has never been a team with as modest a national profile as Oklahoma State.
The list of teams that have appeared in the game is truly exclusive: Oklahoma (four), Florida State (three), Ohio State (three), LSU (two), Florida (two), Texas (two), Southern Cal (two), Miami (two), Tennessee, Alabama, Virginia Tech, Nebraska, Oregon and Auburn.
So maybe it’s time to cast Oklahoma State as a lovable underdog.
– Kevin Dunleavy
