Outside factors might help Missouri in Big 12 Championship

Oklahoma has every statistic on its side.

By Lenny Goldman

Published Dec. 1, 2008

Despite the sticky mess the Big 12 South rankings have become this season, the Oklahoma Sooners prevailed as the first place team.

With a three-way tie between Texas, Oklahoma and Texas Tech, it came down the BCS rankings to allow the Sooners to squeak into the Big 12 Championship game Saturday against Missouri.

Oklahoma only lost one game this season, which was at the Red River Shootout against Texas, who for now, got stuck with the short end of the stick.

But still, if the Tigers somehow upset the No. 2 Sooners, Texas will most likely earn a trip to the National Championship game by watching from home.

This twist called for a long conversation between senior quarterback Chase Daniel and his good friend, Texas quarterback Colt McCoy on Sunday.

"I talked to him for about an hour," Daniel said. "He was crushed, he wanted to be in there as much as they could. We just talked about things and different scenarios that could happen. He's obviously pulling for us to win. So are we."

Just about every major statistic points Oklahoma's way. They've been dominant ever since being upset by Texas and put the final exclamation point on their season with a 61-41 victory over Oklahoma State last week.

What does favor Missouri, however, is everything outside of the actual game. While it's a long shot to bet on extraneous factors, they will make some impact on the field.

The Tigers have a shot to throw away Oklahoma's shot at the National Championship, just like the Sooners did to them last year. Going into last season's Big 12 Championship, Missouri was ranked No. 1 and had to beat Oklahoma, who it has lost to early in the year, to play in the title game.

"I was excited," senior defensive end Stryker Sulak said of the moment when he found out that Missouri would play Oklahoma. "I didn't care who we played. It's just another game for us, but getting to play the Sooners is an opportunity for us. We can make some of the things that happened in the past right."

What also may help Missouri is the fact that it is a heavy underdog. The Tigers were routed by Texas and lost close games to both Kansas and Oklahoma State while Oklahoma came up just short to the Longhorns and dominated the rest of its schedule, especially as of late.

"Any time you have an opportunity like this, obviously not many people give us a chance which is okay," coach Gary Pinkel said. "This is awesome. This what you're in it for. I'm excited about it and the team's excited about it."

The last aspect that points Missouri's way is the setting of the game. The Tiger's will have played back-to-back games at Arrowhead Stadium, providing an extra sense of comfort. While Oklahoma is known to travel well, the short trip from Columbia to Kansas City may give a home atmosphere for Missouri.

Yet all outside factors aside, it will certainly take 40 minutes of the best football Missouri's ever played to shock the nation next week.

"We want respect and it's not going to be given to us. We just got to go out there and get it," Daniel said. "There's not much more important in our guys' lives right now than this game. You look at it and this is the biggest game that we've played in, the biggest game that they've played in to date."Oklahoma has every statistic on its side.