Portal:College football/Selected article/February, 2008



The 2006 Oklahoma Sooners football team represented the University of Oklahoma in the college football season of 2006-2007, winning the Big 12 Conference Championship. The team was coached by Bob Stoops, led on offense by quarterback Paul Thompson, and played their homes games at Gaylord Family Oklahoma Memorial Stadium.

The previous year's team did not quite reach to the expectations that head coach Bob Stoops has set for his teams. The Sooners ended the previous season with eight wins and four losses, third in the Big 12 South standings and 22nd in both the Associated Press and USA Today polls.

This season saw the Sooners re-emerge to the forefront of college football. The season began when the starting quarterback and an offensive lineman were kicked off the team the day before fall practice started. They lost two of their first five games including a controversial loss to the Oregon Ducks and a loss to the defending national champion Texas Longhorns. They followed those losses with eight consecutive wins. The Sooners won their fourth conference championship under Bob Stoops to make 40 conference championships total. They played Boise State University in the Fiesta Bowl and lost in what many consider one of the "greatest" bowl games of all time. The Sooners' defense again ended the season nationally ranked finishing number one is several categories in the conference. Following the season, Adrian Peterson was selected seventh overall in the 2007 NFL Draft. In addition to Peterson, Rufus Alexander and C. J. Ah You were also drafted into the National Football League (NFL).