Dean Sits Down With Stoops Post-Bedlam

I met a very happy Bob Stoops Sunday morning at the stadium for the taping of his replay TV show. He admitted he’d enjoyed a victory cigar Saturday night around 10pm as he celebrated winning his and OU’s tenth Big 12 Championship. It is staggering to see one coach have that much success over a league that once included big names Nebraska, Texas A&M and Missouri. But to dominate now over Texas, Baylor OSU and others, is still quite impressive.

With the 18-point Bedlam win that could have been a wider margin, Stoops now has won eight more Big 12 titles than the University of Texas has won since Stoops has been in Norman – 18 seasons. Mack Brown won two. Mike Gundy one. To think that Oklahoma has now won 46 conference championships is pretty amazing. Most Big 12 schools have not won more than one conference championship; many can go back a half century and they’ve still just won one conference title. Stoops agreed when I suggested that this would qualify as his most gratifying title, as his squad – particularly on the defensive side – suffered more significant injuries/retirements/defections than any team I can remember. And according to Stoops, more than any of his teams have suffered.

And the Sooners end up going undefeated in the league, and thus, won the league by two games. Frankly, with one of his weakest defensive teams in his OU tenure, Stoops not only won the league by two games, but they comfortably handled big boys OSU, West Virginia and Baylor.

Enjoy the interview.