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The Oklahoma Sooners were given 6/1 odds of winning the 2009 BCS Championship at BodogLife.com. They were ranked number 4 in the USA Today 2008 Preseason Coaches Poll.
In its Oklahoma Sooners 2008 preview, ESPN.com writes:
This year, you see a Sooners team that claims 27 returning starters. Considering it's still 11 a side, that's pretty amazing. But the Sooners count anyone who started even one game as a starter -- that's why they lose 12 instead of the more accurate count of nine total on offense and defense.
Wacky math aside, it's clear the Sooners are again the class of the South Division, though Texas Tech and Oklahoma State may well put the best challengers they've ever fielded in the league's 12 year history on the field -- assuming their respective defenses hold up -- and Texas will seemingly always be Texas, ready to give the Sooners a run for their rings.
As far as quarterbacks go, ESPN points out that Sam Bradford didn't just meet expectations, he exceeded them. The only way he can conceivably struggle is by "forcing the action", their preview suggests.
"Everything we have asked him to do he has been exceptional, so I think you have to be careful that he doesn't go out there and try to be superman," Stoops said. "That is not what we ask our guys to do. We rely on everybody; do your job, do what you're asked to do, direct in a positive way.
"He did everything we asked him to do -- direct the team and direct the offense. The things you may take for granted, we don't. Things like command of the huddle, command of the line of scrimmage, we were very clean in all those areas."
Athlon Sports agrees with the assessment of Sam Bradford:
Bradford combined poise and playmaking skills to emerge as one of the nation's elite freshmen a year ago. There's reason to believe he'll be even better this fall, able to pick and choose from an array of weapons spread all across the field.
Athlon also points out that the Sooners should be in the conversation if the offense picks up where it left off and the defense doesn't reveal too much of its youth and inexperience.
The schedule offers few potential roadblocks, with Missouri off the slate for two years. There's an early non-conference road game at Washington, the annual Red River Rivalry with Texas in the Cotton Bowl and conference road games at Texas A&M and Oklahoma State. Still, odds makers should favor Oklahoma in each of these games.
