oklahoma and Ohio State will face off in Columbus, and they will bring us a tradition bowl on Saturday that will teach us a lot about these programs. Please look at this game much like the movie Rocky. One team should win, and the other should lose, and it would be a miracle if the underdog were to win. However, if the Sooners can stay in this game, we have proof that Lincoln Riley is the right guy to run that program for the next 15 years or more until he decides to retire and hand off the control to one of his assistants.
We never believe
Bob Stoops got the job at Oklahoma, and we never thought that it would go anywhere.
Suddenly, he won a national title, and he was one of the best coaches in the sport. Urban Meyer went to Florida, and we were sure he would be just as bad as Ron Zook, but he was brilliant at Florida. He did the same at Ohio State after we called him a washed up old man with a heart problem, and he won another title. We never believe until we see it, and we should see something very soon from Lincoln Riley that will convince us that he is ready to be a major college football coach. Stoops picked him for a reason, and it already seems to be working out well for everyone.
Why does it matter?
We need to get the pulse of college football, and we cannot get that pulse if we do not see big teams play each other as soon as possible.
We do not want to have to wait for weeks and weeks to get just one good game, and these kinds of games are perfect for those of us who love college football because we get to hear the bands and see the tradition on the field. That is part of what makes college sports great. No matter how many problems it has, there is that tradition that you will not get tired of.
The Sooners will lose
The Sooners will probably lose this game, but they may not lose by much. It appears that they can score, and it looks like they can use Baker Mayfield to their advantage. This is also very good for the recruiting of this program because there are a lot of guys who will want to come to Norman to be the next Baker Mayfield.
He could be in the top three of Heisman voting for the third year, and that would be an incredible thing for the Oklahoma program. They need that kind of press, and they need to know that they have some sort of notoriety that is based on the present and not what Bob Stoops did. We all want to see what will happen when Riley gets a real test, and it is clear that he is going to live up to it even if his team does not win in Columbus.
