Since Nebraska got into the game a couple of years ago, I think Oklahoma still probably deserves to be in the Sugar Bowl if they lose in the Big 12 Championship. What if Jason White also got hurt in that game (he has a tendency to do that) and would be out for the Sugar Bowl? Should that factor into how the AP/Coaches polls rank Oklahoma? To look at it from our side, what if LSU dominates Arkansas and then has a nice lead in the SEC Championship (think LSU-FL at the Swamp last year) when Mauck gets hurt late in the game. Some of the pollsters might have moved LSU up to #2 over USC but changed their mind because of Mauck's injury. Should it be this way?
It shouldn't change a vote but I bet it would. This is apples to oranges but I remember when I was about 10 yrs old and LSU had squeaked by someone in basketball to remain undefeated. The next day Nikita Wilson was declared ineligible for the rest of the season and LSU dropped in the polls, even though they hadn't lost yet. "What if" games are kind of stupid but I bet an injury to a significant player would affect the voter's opinion if dealing with multiple 1-loss teams.
Hell yes it would change the voting. Their AP and Coaches Poll rankings would fall off the face of the earth. The only comparison I can think of is Cincy's basketball team from a few years back. They were the undisputed #1 team in the land with the best player in the land in Kenyon Martin. They also had other great players like DerMarr Johnson, but Martin was their star, like Jason White at Oklahoma. In the conference tourney, Cincy loses the game and also loses Martin for the season. What happens? Cincinnati who was supposed to enter the big dance as the top 1 seed instead enters as a freakin 2 seed. And for those who don't know there are 4 #1 seeds, so Cincy essentially fell out of the top 4 and into 5-8.
Cincinatti didn't fall out of top 4 rankings because they lost Martin but because they lost a game to someone weak in the conference tourney. However, their seeding for the NCAA fell because the selection committee does factor in injuries for their projections. So they were probably still ranked high in the polls but the committee doesn't really use the polls. I don't think there has been any history of the coaches or AP poll dropping a team after a victory just because one of their players was injured. The pollsters have always been reluctant to drop a team after a win regardless of the circumstances.
You are a hopeless teletubbie hypnotized by the Talking Heads. Jump into the Arctic Ocean ... wake the hell up. If OKLA loses to K-State------------------->they need to voted out NO WIN, NO SUGAR------------------------>back of the 1-loss teams But you did say ........................................."IF"
That is apples to oranges, oblong ball to round ball! One key player in basketball is huge! One player is not as big of a deal in football - even if it is the QB. The team can still rely on its defense and running game. Also, Cinci had lost a game, which contributed to its drop from a "sure" #1 seed. I stand by my statement that I seriously doubt an injury to any player would cause anyone to change their vote in the football top 25 poll.
jason white is good...but OU's backup is pretty good as well, just a different style of qb. they would focus on the option much more, and that would be tough to defend out of that spread offense they run. i rather play them with White...no excuses for them after the game when they lose.
IF we play Oklahoma, I'd definitely want them to be full strength. You always want to beat someone at their best. There are a lot of ways you can spin my "what if" question but here's another one. If LSU runs the table and looks good doing it and USC finished by defeating Oregon St by 20 pts, I still think our overall "body of work" is better than USC's and we deserve to be ranked #2 in the human polls. However, if Mauck was injured and had to miss the Sugar Bowl, are you supposed to take that into account when finalizing your poll? If you are, I'd probably put USC #2. Also note that I've defended M. Randall many times on this site. I just think USC would be more worthy of taking on Oklahoma if we had to start Randall. I'm trying to look at this in an unbiased way but that's almost impossible with my purple & gold shades.
