Oklahoma a spoiler?
It just doesn’t sound right, Sooners wide receiver Malcolm Kelly said Monday during a teleconference in advance of Saturday night’s Big 12 championship game that pits top-ranked Missouri against No. 9 Oklahoma in San Antonio.
Missouri (11-1, 7-1 Big 12) needs a victory to gain a spot in the Bowl Championship Series title game. With two losses, Oklahoma (10-2, 6-2) is out of the national championship picture. The Sooners will be playing for the Big 12 title, a possible invitation to another BCS bowl and, as much as anything, pride.
“You don’t usually hear ‘spoiler’ (associated with Oklahoma),” Kelly said. “Usually that’s some unranked team. Or somebody trying to play spoiler against Oklahoma.”
Sooners coach Bob Stoops said the trend toward parity in college football has not surprised him. Missouri is joined by other up-and-comers West Virginia, Kansas and Hawaii among the top 12 in the polls. No longer do traditional powers hold a monopoly on talent, Stoops said.
“There are good football players everywhere, in all parts of the country,” he explained. “There are so many more players coming out of high school that are quality, big-time players.
“For our 20 scholarships that we have (to offer) this year, maybe five years ago there were 60 guys that we really liked. Now, that number is closer to 80 or 100.”
Buckeyes backing the Sooners. A victory by Oklahoma likely would put third-ranked Ohio State (11-1) in the BCS title game, prompting a Cleveland writer on the teleconference to point out the rony that Ohio State’s fate will be determined by a native Ohioan (Stoops) who coaches in nother conference.
“I don’t pay attention to it; I have nothing to do with (Ohio State),” answered Stoops, who played college football at Iowa. “It’s all about us trying to win a Big 12 championship.”
Stoops is from Youngstown. Missouri’s Gary Pinkel also is a native Ohioan, from Akron. He played at Kent State.
Coffman questionable. Missouri tight end Chase Coffman has an ankle injury and won’t practice until Wednesday, Pinkel said.
Coffman, the Tigers’ third-leading receiver with 51 catches, missed the second half of Missouri’s 36-28 win over Kansas. He will wear a protective boot until Wednesday’s practice, Pinkel said.
“We think he’ll be back,” the coach said, “but he would certainly be questionable at this time.”
Footnotes. Although Missouri is ranked No. 1, Oklahoma was made a three-point favorite by Las Vegas oddsmakers. Under Stoops, Oklahoma will be going after its fifth Big 12 championship with a different quarterback each time. Missouri wideout Jeremy Mac- lin, the redshirt freshman sensation from St. Louis, originally gave an oral commitment to Oklahoma but switched to the Tigers before signing day.
Tom Kensler: 303-954-1280 or tkensler@denverpost.com
