Oklahoma is looking for a way out of the Arizona desert
Oklahoma isn't officially in the BCS yet, but it's already trying to trade its bowl spot.
If Kansas State loses to Texas this weekend, Oklahoma wins the Big 12 title and is guaranteed a BCS bowl berth in the Fiesta. However, the Sooners aren't exactly thrilled about the prospect of playing in the lovely desert of Arizona, according to the Oklahoman.
Oklahoma has played in Phoenix four of the past six seasons — 2006, 2007 and 2010 in the Fiesta Bowl, and 2011 in the Insight Bowl — and would love a change of scenery.
New Orleans, perhaps?
"At that time, the [conference] commissioners didn't have an appetite to move a champion out of a contracted bowl," Big 12 spokesman Bob Burda told the Oklahoman. "The landscape has changed. There are new faces around the table, so it would be hard to guess what their preference would be."
Of course, all of this hinges on the Sooners winning the Big 12 Conference title. If they lose, Kansas State would be more than happy to soak up the Arizona sun while the Sooners hope for an at-large bid. But Oklahoma might not want to leave its BCS bowl fate to chance.
Kent State is lurking on the edge of automatic qualification and if it beats Northern Illinois in the Mid-American Conference championship, it will likely knock Oklahoma out of the BCS bowl berth altogether. Kent State in No. 17 in the BCS standings and just needs to get to No. 16 and stay ahead of another automatic qualifying conference champion (in this case the Big East) to take an automatic BCS spot per BCS rules. Since Oklahoma is the second-highest ranked team for an at-large berth behind Oregon, it would likely be aced out of the coveted spot.
While beggars shouldn't be choosers, it's easy to understand why Oklahoma would be a little weary of going to Arizona and the prospect of playing Oregon probably doesn't sound too fun either. Of course, if Oklahoma gets the guaranteed Big 12 bid and the Fiesta is left with either Kent State or the Big East Champion (Rutgers or Louisville) in a trade, Oklahoma will just have to suck it up.
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