Sooner fans have already circled the September 17^th when OU visits Tallahassee as the early make or break game in a schedule that is favorable to make a run at the National Championship.  

The mark of a team that can win the championship is the ability to win on the road.  Being able to win on the road is not enough.  A championship caliber team has to be able to beat top rated teams, on the road and come from behind to quiet 80,000+ rabid fans on a fall Saturday afternoon.  Neutral site games do not count.    

Now that I’ve put it that way, “what say you, fellow Sooner fans?”  Is this that team?  Before you answer, let’s take a stroll down memory lane so you can find a team that was that team for the sake of comparison.

In 2010 the only ranked teams that the Sooners played on the road were Mizzou (lost) and Okie Lite who while ranked #10 has far from an intimidating environment with 50,000 fans just up the highway.  The Sooners did put it together and did break the aggies hearts, but it was more in that “shucks.  This was our chance way.”  If that team shows up on September 17^th, there’s a chance these Sooners have what it takes to make a run. 

In 2009, the team had the heart of the tin man where they only won in Lawrence to a #24 ranked Jayhawk team.  2008 will be known as the “year that defense forgot” where the Sooners drubbed a sad Washington team and a host of the unranked on the road while giving up an average of 27 on the road.  Decent team but they lost the ultimate road game in the BCS championship game that was a home game for the Gators.

In 2007 the Sooners didn’t play a ranked team on the road and while ranked #3 themselves were robbed in Lubbock.  2006 saw the Sooners leave the game too close in Eugene so that one call made the difference and then they snuck out of College Station with a 1 point win over the #21 Aggies that was more Coach Fran’s loss the Bob’s gain.  2005 gave us an 8-4 team that won in KC against the Jayhawks and then got jobbed in Lubbock for the first time. 

2004 saw the Sooners beat an outmatched #20 Okie Lite and #22 A&M on the road before the USC drubbing in the NC game.  The best road team the Sooners beat in 2003 was an unranked Alabama.  In ’02 the Sooners avoided a close call against unranked Mizzou (fake field goal to Chester I think) and then lost by 4 to an unranked A&M in College Station when their secondary was exposed and were humiliated three weeks later in Stillwater in what was surely this generation’s Golden Age of OSU football.   

In 2001 The Sooners started the season ranked #3 and beat some unranked teams on the road until losing to #3 Nebraska in Lincoln and then to OSU 4 weeks later (See Golden Age of OSU football).  2000 saw the #8 Sooners break the hearts of Manhattan with a thriller versus #2 KSU, follow that up with a last minute interception to beat#23 A&M and a National Championship. 

Are the 2011 Sooners that team?  Ask me in 6 weeks.