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Oklahoma takes on Missouri in Big 12 title game rematch

Dec 6, 2008 - 11:15 AM (17) Missouri (9-3) vs. (2) Oklahoma (11-1), 8:00 pm EST

KANSAS CITY, Missouri (Ticker) -- Oklahoma got the late-season push it needed from the Bowl Championship Series computers.

Now Sam Bradford and the second-ranked Sooners need to take care of business on the field in order to reach the national title game.

Oklahoma looks to clear the final hurdle in its path to the BCS championship game when it faces 17th-ranked Missouri in Saturday's Big 12 Conference title game at Arrowhead Stadium.

One day after thrashing Oklahoma State in the annual Bedlam Game, the Sooners (11-1, 7-1 Big 12 South) leapfrogged rival Texas for the coveted No. 2 spot in Sunday's BCS standings.

By virtue of their higher BCS spot, the Sooners won a three-way tiebreaker for the Big 12 South Division crown with Texas (11-1, 7-1) and Texas Tech (11-1, 7-1).

Oklahoma barely edged Texas for the second spot in the BCS despite losing to the Longhorns, 45-35, on October 11 in the annual Red River Rivalry game.

Oklahoma has a score of .935, just ahead of Texas at .922. The Sooners climbed one spot in the BCS standings by jumping past the Longhorns in the computer ratings.

Oklahoma maintained its No. 2 ranking in the USA Today coaches' poll, but Texas outranks the Sooners by six points in the Harris Interactive poll. Therefore, the No. 2 spot in the BCS came down to the computers, where the Sooners placed first and the Longhorns second.

Since losing to the Longhorns, the Sooners have won their last six games - all by double digits. The most impressive of those victories was a 65-21 rout of then-No. 2 Texas Tech on November 22.

That blowout win vaulted Oklahoma to No. 3 in last week's BCS rankings, and Saturday night's 61-41 victory over then-No. 12 Oklahoma State apparently gave the Sooners to edge over the Longhorns for the Big 12 South title.

"One of us has to go (to the Big 12 title game)," Oklahoma coach Bob Stoops said. "None of us put the system together. That's how it is."

Thanks to the system, Bradford and the Sooners will get a chance to beat the Tigers for the Big 12 title for a second straight year.

Bradford threw two touchdown passes last December as Oklahoma crushed then-No. 1 Missouri, 38-17, to claim the conference crown and book a spot in the Fiesta Bowl.

Now a redshirt sophomore, Bradford has emerged as a Heisman Trophy contender by quarterbacking an offense that has scored at least 61 points in each of Oklahoma's last four games.

Bradford passed for 4,080 yards and 48 touchdowns, the highest total in the Football Bowl Subdivision.

Despite passing for 370 yards and accounting for five TDs Saturday against the Cowboys, Bradford sustained torn ligaments to his non-throwing hand. But Stoops does not anticipate that the injury will hamper Bradford against Missouri.

The Tigers (9-3, 5-3 North) have an outstanding quarterback of their own in Chase Daniel, a 2007 Heisman finalist who has passed for 3,880 yards and 34 TDs this season.

Daniel played well in Saturday's 40-37 loss to rival Kansas, passing for 288 yards and four TDs while running for a career-high 103 yards. Despite the loss to the Jayhawks, Daniel is excited to return to the Big 12 title game.

"There's 10 other teams that would die to be in our spot right now," he said.