College Football, Oklahoma Sooners | featured news

Notre Dame’s impressive win on the road against Oklahoma Saturday meant the Irish should be considered BCS championship contenders with just a month or so left in this 2012 college football regular season. Confirmation of that was unveiled Sunday night in the latest BCS standings when the Irish, previously ranked No. 5 in the BCS, jumped up two spots to take the No. 3 ranking.

Robert Griffin and Baylor created even more chaos in the national championship race with a stunning blow against fifth-ranked Oklahoma. Griffin threw for 479 yards and four touchdowns, including a 34-yarder to Terrance Williams with 8 seconds left and 25th-ranked Baylor beat the Sooners for the first time, 45-38 on Saturday night.

LSU and Alabama are the top two teams in the country one month before their game in Tuscaloosa. The SEC West rivals held the first two spots in The Associated Press college football poll released Sunday as the second-ranked Crimson Tide jumped past No. 3 Oklahoma.

They kept saying it, but no one seemed to believe them. Tuesday night, the Pacific-12 Conference said it again, loud and clear, announcing that it was not taking in Oklahoma or Texas or anyone else. The Pac-12, for now, will remain the Pac-12.

Oklahoma is No. 1 in The Associated Press preseason college football poll for the 10th time, edging Alabama for the top spot.

With a thrilling finish in a Bedlam game that lived up to its name, Landry Jones chased away the demons that had hounded No. 14 Oklahoma all season. Jones matched the school record with 468 yards passing and threw two long touchdown passes 29 seconds apart in the fourth quarter as the Sooners beat No. 10 Oklahoma State 47-41 on Saturday night to forge a three-way tie atop the Big 12 South—a tie that should break OU’s way.

Jerrell Jackson spun free from a knot of tacklers on a 38-yard reception for the go-ahead score, sparking a 16-point fourth quarter that helped No. 18 Missouri upend the top team in the BCS standings with a 36-27 victory over error-prone Oklahoma on Saturday night.

Oklahoma has dropped out of the AP college football poll for the first time since 2005, and No. 25 Stanford has moved into the rankings for the first time since 2001.

Heisman Trophy winner Sam Bradford wasn't ready to give up the life of a college quarterback — not without a national championship.