In November, the Oklahoma State University family lost four souls in a plane crash. The day the news broke, the OSU football team saw their unblemished record tarnished in Ames, Iowa as the Cyclones handed the Cowboys a double-overtime loss. That day, some were upset that the perfect season was no longer attainable. But others were faced with the knowledge that life would never be the same.

Some thought that the news of the crash should be no excuse for a poor performance on the football field, with a few people downplaying the significance that a loss of two women’s basketball coaches would have on not only football, but the athletic department and Stillwater community as a whole. But others knew that the tight-knit OSU family would be affected immesurably.

The imprint Kurt Budke, Miranda Serna and the Brandstetters made went far beyond the basketball court. The Budke family was present last night as OSU narrowly defeated the Stanford Cardinal in a 41-38 overtime win in the Fiesta Bowl. And the Budke family was present on the stage when Mike Gundy was presented the trophy, only to hand over the golden football to Kurt’s widow, Shelley.

“I want to dedicate this win to the four victims of the plane crash,” Gundy said to the sea of orange. “It meant so much to the Oklahoma State people and to our team and for their families. The players wanted to do it.”

In Oklahoma, football is big. Really, really big. But sometimes life – and family – is even bigger. Remember the 4.

But.

One can’t help but look at the slim margin and wonder how the 11-1 Pokes were beat out of the big game in favor of an LSU/Alabama rematch. The computers like OSU better, but the people… Well, some of the people like the Cowboys for sixth best in the nation. Sixth. Oy. Of the 115 Harris Poll panelists, 35 put Oklahoma State in the second spot. 64 slotted the Cowboys in third, behind LSU and Alabama. And 16 men pretty much decided the bowl trip the Pokes would take. [Final Harris Interactive Poll]

Here’s a look at the Harris Poll voters who voted OSU less than third and who they ranked ahead of the OSU. Had these people slated the Cowboys in third, we’d be talking about a national championship trip to New Orleans. So, I thought you might want to see who we should be … thanking … for our trip to Arizona to play for all the Tostitos.

Sammy Batten – Fayetteville Observer sports writer covering ACC football and recruiting, region colleges and the Fayetteville Force football team. Has worked for the paper since 1989 and is a North Carolina graduate.

OSU rank: 4; Ranked below: Stanford

Dave Braine – Former Georgia Tech athletic director (1997-2006) who retired after being diagnosed with Crohn’s Disease; North Carolina graduate.

OSU rank: 4; Ranked below: Stanford

Charlie Cavagnaro – Former athletic director at Memphis and UNLV who retired in 2002 after a controversial tenure with the program.

OSU rank: 4; Ranked below: Stanford

Scott Johnson – Served as the Fresno State athletic director from 2001-05.

OSU rank: 5; Ranked below: Oregon, Boise State

Bob Marcum – Athletic Director at Marshall from 2002-09, Marshall graduate.

OSU rank: 4; Ranked below: Stanford

Derrick Mayes – Former NFLer who played with the Green Bay Packers (1996-98) and Seattle Seahawks (1999-2000). The Indianapolis native spent his college career at Notre Dame.

OSU rank: 6; Ranked below: Stanford, Boise State, Oregon

Craig Morton – The Flint, Michigan native played collegiate football at Cal before a successful NFL career. Morton quarterbacked the Cowboys, Giants and Broncos in a career spanning from 1965-1982.

OSU rank: 5; Ranked below: Stanford, Oregon

Doug Plank – The former NFLer for the Chicago Bears played collegiate football at Ohio State under Woody Hayes.

OSU rank: 4; Ranked below: Stanford

Harvey Schiller – CEO of GlobalOptions Group, SEC Commissioner 1986-90, Former VP at TBS, former CEO of YankeeNets.

OSU rank: 4; Ranked below: Stanford

Terry Shea – Oregon graduate who coached in college and the NFL, making stops at Utah State, San Jose State, Cal, Stanford and Rutgers. In the 2000s, Shea has served as quarterbacks coach for the Kansas City Chiefs, Miami Dolphins and St. Louis Rams as well as spending a year in Chicago as offensive coordinator.

OSU rank: 4; Ranked below: Stanford

Fred Stabley – Former Central Michigan University sports information director, current contributor for the Morning Sun newspaper.

OSU rank: 4; Ranked below: Stanford

Jeff Van Note – Played Center for the Atlanta Falcons from 1969-1986. The five-time Pro Bowler played his college football at Kentucky.

OSU rank: 5; Ranked below: Wisconsin, Oregon

Bob Wagner – Coached at the University of Hawaii from 1988-95.

OSU rank: 6; Ranked below: Stanford, Boise State, Oregon

George Wine – Former Iowa sports information director.

OSU rank: 6; Ranked below: Stanford, Boise State, Houston

Dwayne Woodruff – The Kentucky native played college football at Louisville before his professional career with the Pittsburgh Steelers from 1979-90.

OSU rank: 4; Ranked below: Stanford

Rick Wright – Albuquerque Journal staff writer.

OSU rank: 5; Ranked below: Oregon, Stanford

Statement from the Harris Poll on poll methodology and process: “The 2011 Harris Interactive College Football Poll is comprised of former players, coaches, administrators and current and former members of the media who have committed to submit rankings for the top 25 college football teams each week. These panelists were randomly selected from among more than 300 nominations submitted by the 11 Football Bowl Subdivision (formerly Division I-A) offices and the independent schools. The panel has been designed to be a statistically valid representation of all 11 Football Bowl Subdivision conferences and independent institutions. Today, 115 poll participants submitted their top 25 college football team rankings. Harris Interactive applies a standard statistical practice that allows it to identify potential instability, error or bias associated with unusual ranking patterns. Those rankings that are identified through the analysis are verified to ensure that each panelist’s intent is accurately reflected.”

Sometimes pictures speak just as loud – or even louder – than words. This week’s Sports Illustrated Special Edition cover does just that. Personally, I still can’t believe everything that has changed about what the outside world knew of State College in a matter of mere days.

An excerpt from the cover article, written by L. Jon Wertheim and David Epstein, covers one of the roots of the problem that I have with this whole entire crazy mess:

Some residents in State College told Wertheim and Epstein that rumors of Sandusky’s alleged behavior had been marinating for years, long before the allegations from Central Mountain High. Says Rebecca Durst, who owns a barbershop near campus and says that her long-term clients include prominent Penn State administrators: “When [Sandusky] left, there was speculation about his behavior and young boys. This is a small town. It’s been in the rumor mill for a while.”

Just how long has that rumor mill been churning?? Way way way too long for my liking. Why did no one act on any of these rumors besides just gossipping about it? If just one case could have been prevented…

The SI cover story is available here. You can read more on my initial thoughts along when the news broke along with the actual grand jury report here.

It’s time for the first appearance of the 2011 BCS polls. Everyone has been vocal about their disdain for the computers ‘deciding’ things, but if you study the above you’ll notice the computer #1 (Oklahoma State) is the people #6 and overall #4. So, there’s that.

The Big 12 is well represented in this first list, with Oklahoma leading the pack of three 6-0 teams. The Sooners are #3 in the rankings, Cowboys #4 and fellow unbeaten Kansas State checks in at #11. Texas A&M (4-2) checks in at #17 and Texas (4-2) squeezes their way on the list at #24.

But really, the reason I wanted to do this little post is solely so I can use the Fighting Mangino’s clip from a 2004 press conference after a game against Texa$:

That’s right. BCS.

Both the Cowboys and Sooners had banner days on the field on Saturday. Oklahoma State pounded Kansas 70-28 in Stillwater while Oklahoma disposed of Texas 55-17 at the Cotton Bowl in Dallas. In fact, each team was so good that they rewrote portions of their school record books, with OSU smashing offensive records and OU dominating on defense. A quick look at a few numbers:

For the Cowboys -

• Tied for most points by OSU in the modern era (70), most touchdowns (10), points in a half (56), points in a quarter (35)
• 70 points is the most allowed by a Division I defense through the first six weeks of the 2011 season
• Brandon Weeden set the record for best single-game completion percentage (85.7%, 24-of-28)  before being pulled with five minutes remaining in the first half
• Weeden and Clint Chelf are first duo to pass for at least 200 yards in the same game
• OSU passed for the most yards against Kansas in Jayhawk history (494 yards)

For the Sooners -

• OU’s all-time winning percentage fittingly surpassed Texas’ after the huge win in the Red River Rivalry. The Sooners’ all-time record is 816-304-53 (.71824), fourth-best in the country behind Michigan, Notre Dame and Ohio State
• The defense earned spots in the school records for most yards by tackles-for-loss (113) and most sack yards (84)
• OU’s 17 tackles for loss and 8 sacks tie Sooner records
• The Sooners scored three defensive touchdowns, marking a program record

Not a bad Saturday for the Sooner State, eh?

I feel bad for nebraska . . Couldn't win In the big 12, then go to the big 10 and can't win. maybe conference usa would be a better fit—
Travis Lewis (@TravisLewis28) October 03, 2011

To me, this is something you say to your friends or teammates joking around after the game was on television, privately. Yes, Nebraska got demolished by Wisconsin in their Big 10 debut, but don’t the Sooners have a rather big game coming up to focus on? ::cough, Red River Rivalry, cough::

I am a big-time twitterhead, that I can’t deny, but i don’t think the twitters is the forum for saying such things that make you look a bit like a jerk. Although with all the tweets and retweets from fans and local media, everyone but me seems to enjoy this style. I guess I’m just going to be in the minority on this one.

The boys in black took to the field and put a bruising on Arizona in the lone college game of the evening. In a rematch of the 2010 Alamo Bowl, the results were similar, right down to the score. The Wildcats came to Stillwater out to prove that all the Stoops brothers can win in BPS, but left licking their wounds.

Aside from the traditional gamers from the local papers, here are some other interesting links floating around the interwebs after the win:

This time, Weeden doesn’t give himself reason to lose temper
- Brett McMurphy, CBS Sports
[talks about the age factor of the quarterback, the leadership qualities and responsibilities he has to live up to as the elder statesman, the ability to keep his emotions in check that he honed during his baseball career]

Cowboys take the W
-Brooke
[a couple great photos of the Cowboys taking the field in the black unis and everyone's favorite horse, Bullet]

Arizona-Oklahoma State: The good and the bad for the Wildcats
-Anthony Gimino, Tucson Citizen
[points out the atrocious Arizona running back stats, and picks on the corner who allowed Justin Blackmon's TD catches. Hey, have you heard of this guy? It's not your cornerback's fault. Also interesting to read the grumblings about Mike Stoops...is his job in jeopardy?]

Butt-kicking Part 2: Oklahoma State Romps Arizona Wildcats
- AZ Desert Swarm (the SBN Arizona storystream also provides some in-game thoughts from the loss)
[they point out the particularly fast and hot start by the Cowboys offense, noted Arizona's last win was Oct. 30, 2010 and that their star quarterback Nick Foles looked hobbled at the end of the game]

A twitter photo from Boone Pickens!
If you can’t tell who that is in the orange hat, you must not watch the PGA – Rickey Fowler taking in the game from the best suite in the house. All the golf greats were in town for the game, and are taking place in a pro-am today at Karsten Creek. Along with Fowler, Hunter Mahan, the Tways and many more prolific OSU golfers are hitting the links to raise money as we speak.

You can see post-game coverage galore on the OSU athletics website, including stats, notes and quotes, photos, videos and more…

If you have more links to share, please do so in the comments!

(There was a user error with the chart legend, so I’ll explain – the bottom RED line represents OU, MAROON for Texas A&M, ORANGE for OSU, YELLOW for Mizzou and the purple dots are votes for Texas)

What I found interesting in looking at the votes was this – OU’s regional votes were divided with five 1st place votes and three 2nd place votes, while the nation put them overwhelmingly in the top spot (36 votes to Alabama’s 17 votes).

The other two Big 12 squads to break into the Top 10, Texas A&M and Oklahoma State, seem to get lower vote totals from the area. A&M landed at 8th nationally while getting two regional 15th place votes from Austin Meek of the Topeka Capital and Dave Matter of the Columbia Tribune. Meek similarly ranked Oklahoma State at 17th, eight spots down from their 9th place position in the overall poll. OSU had the widest variance with John Werner of the Waco Tribune-Herald giving the Cowboys a seventh place ranking, 10 spots higher than Meek’s vote.

Missouri appears to be right where the region expects them to be, with their votes ranging from 17-22, relatively close to their spot at No. 21. Two Texas voters, Robert Cessna of the Bryan-College Station Eagle and Werner are not sleeping on the Texas Longhorns and put the 2010 underachievers in the 25th position.

I also thought it would be interesting to see where former Big 12/new Pac-12 & B1G reporters ranked their old conference-mates. Kyle Ringo of the Daily Camera, a Colorado publication, put OU in the 3rd spot, Texas A&M 13th, OSU at 14th and Missouri at 20th. Sam McKewon of the Omaha World-Herald also weighed in with his votes. He stacks them up with OU in 4th, A&M 10th and OSU 14th. McKewon did not vote for Missouri on his first ballot of the year. Looks like the former friends have turned foe to OU – or at least for poll-voting sake.

What does all this mean? Nothing at all, really. Only that the college football season is right around the corner, 12 days away. These teams, along with everyone else across the region and nation, will finally have the chance to prove their worth on the gridiron instead of in the ballot box.

You can peruse the complete voter-by-voter ballot breakdown, as well as the overall poll. My thoughts and data were taken from the following Big 12 regional voters: Kirk Bohls, Austin American Statesman; Robert Cessna, Bryan-College Station Eagle; Mike Hlas, Cedar Rapids Gazette; David Just, Lubbock Avalanche-Journal; Dave Matter, Columbia Tribune; Austin Meek, Topeka Capital; John
Shinn, Norman Transcript; John Werner, Waco Tribune-Herald.

Bowl games are a great way to celebrate a successful football season and wind down (or start off) the year. When I was a collegian at Oklahoma State, my friends and I made the trek to San Antonio to watch the Cowboys play Purdue.

And we lost.

Tony Lindsay and R.W. McQuarters couldn’t lead the Bob Simmons’ coached team to victory. 

I can still remember the Boilermakers’ cheerleaders running around in the endzone after scoring, doing this little flying motion to the sounds of a band-created train whistle while the bouncy Purdue mascot thingy cheered. Sure, we made the most of our trip, but losing isn’t exactly reason for a celebration.

I moved to New England and watched the next few bowls from afar – wins over Southern Miss, Alabama and Indiana … losses to Mississippi and Ohio State. My hiatus from seeing games from the stands was mixed with joy and disappointment.

In 2008 I traveled to San Diego for my second in-person bowl game. A great trip to Southern California.

Another loss.

Dez Bryant, Zac Robinson and Kendall Hunter fell short against the Ducks.

I can still hear the quacker whistles of Oregon as they celebrated the win. I can still picture the OU flag cape wearing Sooner laughing as he left the stadium. I rang in the New Year sitting in San Diego licking my wounds.

Last year, I made the short drive to Dallas; first to cover the Armed Forces Bowl and then met up with a friend for the Cotton Bowl in Jerry World. I was excited – this was going to be ‘our year’. Alas, it was not.

Another loss for my Cowboys.

The OSU offense couldn’t find the endzone as Dexter McCluster ran the field with ease for the Ole Miss.

If I close my eyes I can picutre the red and blue and hear all the Mississippi fans chanting “S-E-C” and having a fun ride home while sending the orange-clad fans back up I-35 empty handed.

2010 football in Stillwater was projected to be a year of rebuilding, a season of struggle for O State. The pundits were wrong as the Cowboys found way after way to win, only falling twice in the regular season and ending up in a three-way tie atop the Big 12 South.

The Alamo Bowl came calling. Again. The road trip was on. Again.

And this year, the outcome was one I’d never been a part of. We won. In the first game that I attended this season in which I could cheer for my alma mater, we won. After sitting in the press box and biting my tongue throughout the regular season, not waving after touchdowns, not cheering for Bullet as the black horse made laps on the field, not belting out the fight song with all the orange in the stands.

We really won.

I can still see the Riverwalk crowded with orange, the chants of “Orange Power” echoing down the walkways, the celebration of leaving the AlamoDome as victors and an 11-win season, the first in OSU history.

Thank you Brandon Weeden for deciding to focus on football after your baseball career ended. Thank you Kendall Hunter for powering down the field for Tailback U. Thank you Justin Blackmon for stepping into the spotlight this year. Thank you Cowboys for the great ending to a great season!

I hope Lamar will give me a billboard
every important gameday!
Go Pokes!