In 2008, the Big 12 produced three teams that could be considered worthy of playing in the National Championship game. Not only were they all in the Big 12, they were all in the Big 12 South. During the season, Texas and Oklahoma hit as high as number one in the polls and Texas Tech hit as high as number two in the polls. At the end of the season, all three teams were 11-1 and determining who would represent the Big 12 South in the conference championship game came down to the BCS. A look back at the craziest division race of all time.
October 11, 2008. “You are looking live at the Cotton Bowl in Dallas”. Not only is it a Red River Shootout, but it is a top five matchup Red River Shootout. This was the first of the three games in the round robin between Texas, Texas Tech, and Oklahoma.
Texas not only got a win over their arch rivals, but they got a win that propelled them into the favorite to represent the Big 12 in the National Championship.
The next matchup between the three teams were Texas travelling to Lubbock to face off against Texas Tech. With College Gameday in town, Lubbock was rocking and ready to see their Red Raiders challenge Texas. They did exactly that. Going into the fourth quarter, Texas was down by 10, 29-19. Fast forward to 1:29 left on the clock, and Vondrell McGee runs in a four yard touch to give the Horns a 33-32 lead. Graham Harrell and the Red Raider offense drives all the way down to the Texas 28 yard line and then produces this.
Texas Tech won the game 39-33, boosting the to number two in the BCS.
The final matchup between these three schools came two weeks after Texas Tech knocked off Texas. This time, Tech was 10-0 and going into Norman to take control in the Big 12 South. They did not do that. Oklahoma blew out the Red Raiders, where they scored 35 points in the second quarter alone.
Oklahoma won 65-21 and sent the three teams into a three way time.
The team people forget to talk about during this season is Oklahoma State. The Cowboys were 7-0 and ranked number seven when they traveled to Austin to play the Longhorns the week after the huge Red River Shootout victory. When they went to Lubbock, they were ranked eighth and were ranked number 11 when they hosted Oklahoma. They lost all three of those games, but in any other year of the Big 12, they would of had the team to compete for the conference championship. They won every other game and finished the season 9-3.
Going into the final weekend on the conference season, Texas and Oklahoma had in state rivalry games and Tech played Baylor. If all three of them took care of business like expected, determining who won the Big 12 South would be determined by the BCS rankings. Before the weekend, Texas was #2, OU was #3, and Tech was #7. Oklahoma had the biggest advantage, going on the road to Stillwater and playing the eleventh ranked Cowboys. Texas and Texas Tech both played teams with losing records.
All three got the wins they needed. Oklahoma easily had the best win of the weekend, boosting them above Texas. The computers ranked Oklahoma above of Texas and OU was into the Big 12 championship again. Facing Missouri for the second straight year, they blew by them on their way to a national championship appearance.
Not only was there a rivalry in the actual game, but all three quarterbacks finished in the top four of Heisman trophy voting. Sam Bradford won the award after throwing for 4,720 yards and 50 touchdowns. McCoy finished second and Tim Tebow was the only thing between a Big 12 quarterback top three with Graham Harrell finishing fourth.
In the national title game, Oklahoma got to play other Heisman finalist Tim Tebow and the Florida Gators. Both quarterbacks threw for two touchdowns and two interceptions. The difference though was Florida and their running game. They ran for 249 yards on the OU defense and won the game in the fourth quarter 24-14.
Texas played a classic Fiesta Bowl against Ohio State, where they got a last minute touchdown from Quan Cosby, winning 24-21.
Texas Tech did not fair as well in their bowl game, where they also lost to another SEC opponent. Ole Miss beat the Red Raiders 47-34 in the Cotton Bowl.
This will always be the craziest division race in College Football history. Three teams all beat each other and the computer had to determine who was going to go to the Big 12 Championship game. Texas beating Oklahoma, Texas Tech beating Texas, and Oklahoma beating Texas Tech caused for debates that some people will argue to this day.