2008 Texas Vs. Oklahoma Football Game - Prior To The Game

Prior To The Game

Due to the breadth of sports offered and the quality of the programs, Texas was selected as "America's Best Sports College" in a 2002 analysis performed by Sports Illustrated. Texas ranks as the second most winning program in college football history, in terms of total wins, having passed Notre Dame with win 831 on November 27, 2008. As of the end of the 2007 season, the Longhorns' all-time record is 820-315-33 (.716). Only the University of Michigan have won more games and a greater percentage of games played than Texas, which recorded its 800th victory with the Longhorns' 41-38 win over the USC Trojans in the 2006 BCS National Championship Game at the Rose Bowl. One of the top-three teams in the all-time list of both total wins and winning percentage., the University of Texas has traditionally been considered among the elite of college football. From 1936 to 2008, the team finished the season in the top ten of at least one of the two major polls 27 times, or more than one-third of the time. The 2005 national championship team that coach Mack Brown fielded in 2005 has been called one of the most memorable in college football history by College Football News.

OU has the most victories and best winning percentage of any team since the end of World War II. The Sooners have earned seven AP National Championships (1950, 1955, 1956, 1974, 1975, 1985, 2000) in that span and are recognized by the NCAA for 16 titles (in all sports; the NCAA does not recognize a football champion in FBS). They have been ranked #1 in the AP and BCS polls more than any other team, have been ranked in the top 5 of the AP and BCS polls more than any other team, and have scored more points than any other team in the modern era. Naturally, Oklahoma had high expectations for the year. Their pre-season ranking of number four in the nation and the fact they had made it to the national championship game in both 2003 and 2004 only served to support this assumption.

The 2007 game was a back-and-forth affair that was ultimately won by Oklahoma 28–21. OU's freshman quarterback, Sam Bradford, was 21–of–32 for 244 yards and 3 touchdowns. UT's McCoy was 19–of–26 for 324 yards and two touchdowns. That was the most passing yardage against an Oklahoma team since the 2004 National Championship game vs. USC. The Longhorns committed two costly turnovers. McCoy threw one interception and Jamaal Charles lost a fumble inside the Oklahoma 5 yard-line on what would otherwise have been a touchdown scoring run. For the second straight week, the Texas defense did not cause any turnovers.

Texas entered the 2008 season ranked number 11 in the AP Poll and number 10 in the Coaches Poll. They won their first four games to rise to number 5 in the national rankings. Texas began Big 12 Conference play on October 4, 2008 with a trip to Boulder, Colorado and a win over the Colorado Buffaloes.

For either team to play in the national title game, that team had to end up ranked No. 1 or No. 2 at the end of the regular season. Since 1998 (the year the Bowl Championship Series was formed) through 2004, 9 of the 14 teams were unbeaten going into the championship game. The only time the national champion has not been unbeaten during that stretch was in 2003 when LSU and USC claimed a share of the title as each finished with one loss. As Ohio State tackle Kirk Barton once said "There’ll probably be two undefeated teams at the end of the road and if you’re not one of them you’re probably not going to be playing for the championship. So you’ve got to treat every game like it’s the Super Bowl. You only get one opportunity."

Prior to the game, Oklahoma was favored by 6½ points. The weather forecast called for a game-time temperature of 84 °F (29 °C).

Further information: 2008 NCAA Division I FBS football rankings