Norman, Okla. — Just how big of a win is big enough for No. 2 Oklahoma?
A 27-point win against Nebraska last week left the Sooners clinging to their No. 2 spot in the coaches' poll and tied for the ranking in the Associated Press' poll as Auburn made up ground with a win against No. 8 Georgia. So, as the Sooners head into their regular-season finale against Baylor, is any win impressive enough?
Coach Bob Stoops isn't saying. Instead his sentiment is simply this: "We want to go down and play as well as we can and do our best to win."
That's the general feeling among the Sooners' players, too. Rather than chase a certain margin of victory -- the Sooners are favored by 34 1/2 points -- Oklahoma is instead determined to play as best it can and let the points fall where they may.
"Our big thing is just going out and playing 100 percent of our ability," defensive back Brandon Shelby said. "After that, you can't worry about all this hoopla about around the BCS and all this other stuff that's going around. If we don't take care of business, it won't really make a difference."
It could be difficult for the Sooners (10-0, 7-0 Big 12) to make any kind of statement against Baylor (3-7, 1-6), the Big 12's perennial last-place team. Oklahoma has won the last four meetings by an average margin of five touchdowns, so even a lopsided score wouldn't be surprising.
Stoops said it was disappointing that a win sometimes was not enough in the modern championship race.
Oklahoma running back Adrian Peterson, left, avoids a tackle by Nebraska defender Josh Bullocks in the fourth quarter of the Sooners' 30-3 victory. Despite the lopsided win, OU lost ground in the polls to Auburn. The Sooners will travel today to face Baylor in Waco, Texas.
"That's unfortunate," Stoops said. "I think everybody in today's day of analyzing statistics, analyzing scores, analyzing who's the best conference, there's so many people that have opinions on it. It is more difficult. Some of that gets lost.
"You're sitting there at 10-0, you win a big road game and everybody's criticizing it. You win at home and you win too well and everyone criticizes it. You're 10-0 and you're wondering, 'Where's the fun?"'
Stoops said it's still better than the criticism that comes with losing, but the Sooners' approach is simply to ignore it all and just focus on the task at hand.
"Things usually find a way of working themselves out, so you don't worry about it," Shelby said. "I think right now our major concern is us and I think that's the most important thing right now."
Center Vince Carter said he'd be just as happy with a grinding 3-0 win as he'd be with a blowout.
Baylor coach Guy Morriss watches the Bears turn over on downs in their 49-21 loss to Oklahoma State. Baylor will face No. 2-ranked Oklahoma today.
"We can't control the computers or people's votes," Carter said. "All we can control is what we do out on the field on Saturday. That's the kind of attitude we've taken toward our situation."
Shelby said it was hard to avoid the BCS talk that is constantly present, but he said it wasn't grating on the players' minds.
"You can't worry about that," he said. "When you start worrying about the little things you have no control over, that's usually when you don't take care of business."
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