Stoops picks OU as his No. 1 team, votes LSU No. 6 By JIMMY BURCH Star-Telegram Staff Writer Although his team fell short of landing a spot in the BCS Championship Game, Oklahoma coach Bob Stoops did his best to propel the Sooners into the mix.
Stoops joined South Carolina coach Steve Spurrier, Stoops' mentor and former boss, as the only voters in the USA Today/coaches poll who placed the Sooners at No. 1 on their final regular-season ballots. Coaches' ballots were made public Monday, one day after release of the final BCS standings. OU (11-2) finished fourth in the BCS, which uses the coaches' poll as one of its three factors.
After a 38-17 victory over then-No. 1 Missouri in Saturday's Big 12 Championship Game, Stoops issued an open plea for votes, saying his team was "playing the best, right now" among the nation's college football teams. Stoops backed his words with action, placing OU atop his ballot -- one spot ahead of Ohio State, which finished first in the BCS standings and the coaches poll.
LSU (11-2), the No. 2 team in the BCS and Ohio State's opponent in the Jan. 7 national championship game, was sixth on Stoops' ballot. Virginia Tech, which also finished ahead of OU in the BCS standings, was fifth on Stoops' ballot.
Stoops was unavailable for comment on Monday's Big 12 coaches teleconference. But he was far from the only coach whose ballot raised eyebrows when it became public Monday. Other notable items:
Hawaii (12-0), which needed to finish 12th or higher in the final standings to earn a BCS bowl berth, received one first-place vote in the coaches' poll. It came from New Mexico State coach Hal Mumme, whose school is a member of the WAC, where Hawaii is the conference champ.
Dennis Franchione, the former Texas A&M coach, rated No. 3 Oklahoma, No. 17 Texas and No. 10 Hawaii below their finishing places in the final coaches poll. On Franchione's ballot, Oklahoma was sixth; Texas was 20th and Hawaii was 22nd. Franchione ranked Hawaii, the nation's only unbeaten team, the lowest of any voter among the 60 participants in the coaches poll.
Unranked Houston (8-4), TCU's opponent in the Dec. 28 Texas Bowl, received three points in the coaches' poll. All came courtesy of former Cougars coach Art Briles, the new Baylor coach, who had Houston at No. 23 on his ballot.
Howard Schnellenberger, coach at Florida Atlantic, voted Kansas (No. 2), Hawaii (No. 3), Missouri (No. 4), LSU (No. 5) and Virginia Tech (No. 6) ahead of seventh-ranked Oklahoma on his ballot. Schnellenberger was fired as the OU coach after the 1995 season.
LSU coach Les Miles, whose team jumped from seventh to second in the final BCS standings with its 21-14 victory over Tennessee in the Southeastern Conference title game, placed his own team at the top of his ballot. The rest of Miles' top five: Ohio State (No. 2), Georgia (No. 3), Virginia Tech (No. 4) and Oklahoma (No. 5).
Texas Tech coach Mike Leach, who placed the unranked Red Raiders at No. 22 on his ballot, said the upset-filled 2007 season made voting "kind of hard" and pointed out the need for a playoff system.
Texas coach Mack Brown, another playoff proponent, concurred.
"I thought there were four or five teams capable of playing for the national championship," said Brown, who placed the Longhorns at No. 17 on his ballot and identified the nation's top five teams -- in order -- as Ohio State, LSU, Oklahoma, Kansas and Southern California.
"This was at least as difficult as deciding last year between Florida and Michigan [as the second BCS championship-game participant]. This year, more than any other, shows we need a playoff. But there's nothing I've heard about that would make me think anyone is working in that direction."
How they voted
A look at some of the final votes in the USA Today coaches poll:
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