Miami ? Losing by 38 points to Oklahoma two seasons ago still pains Miami. Losing last season’s national championship game on the Hurricanes’ home field still stings the Sooners.

Of course, all that will be completely irrelevant tonight.

When No. 8 Oklahoma (2-1) visits No. 17 Miami (2-1), it’ll be about far more than erasing lingering disappointment over past defeats. For the Sooners, it’s a chance to get ready for the looming Big 12 season and keep climbing the polls after a Week 1 loss. For the Hurricanes, it’s an opportunity to snap a five-game slide against top-10 teams that dates back to 2005.

Are the Sooners as good as they looked in pounding lightly regarded Idaho State and Tulsa, 109-0, the last two weeks?

Are the Hurricanes as explosive as it seemed against Florida State and Georgia Tech, or the duds that faced Virginia Tech?

Answers forthcoming, from a game that’ll be available in 81 percent of the nation’s TV households.

“Everybody in the country is going to watch,” Miami coach Randy Shannon said. “There’s a reason they put this game on TV at 8 o’clock at night. Now, are we going to stand up as a football team or not?”

Miami has thrived this season when believing all the chips are stacked against it. Then came last week, when the Hurricanes were touted by some as sudden national-title contenders.

Thud. Virginia Tech 31, Miami 7.

Now here comes Oklahoma, a touchdown-favorite even though reigning Heisman Trophy winner Sam Bradford won’t start at quarterback and likely won’t even play as he continues recovering from a shoulder injury. Landry Jones — who only threw for a school-record six touchdowns last week — gets the call under center again for the Sooners.

“We have to be at our best going down there this week to meet that challenge,” Oklahoma coach Bob Stoops said. “I think Randy Shannon and his staff continue to build that program. They are doing a great job. When I watch them I see really explosive and talented players across all phases of the game. We have to meet that challenge with hopefully explosive plays and players on our side.”

He’s got them in bunches. The Sooners have piled up 1,093 yards in Jones’ first two starts, and Oklahoma’s defense ranks either at or near the top of the nation so far in just about every imaginable category.

It could be a classic matchup, and one of Miami’s biggest home crowds in years is expected. Oklahoma has seen that before; every seat at what’s now known as Land Shark Stadium was filled last January when the Sooners fell to Florida in the BCS national title game.

“This is the stadium that so much could have happened for us,” Oklahoma offensive lineman Brian Simmons said. “I know it’s going to be jumping. It’s a Saturday night. I know they’re going to run out the tunnel with their smoke. I know they’re going to be fired up.”

The last time these teams met, Oklahoma blew Miami away in Norman, winning 51-13 two years ago.

The Hurricanes were in the first phases of a total rebuilding project then.