Can the Sooners keep on ticking?

Tick, tock....tick, tock...You hear that? That is the sound of the 2006 Sooner football season. It was wild year for Sooner fans. The ups and downs, highs and lows of the season had many Sooner faithful in a state of cardiac arrest. It all started with Bomar-gate in August, but the Sooners responded to that. Coach Bob Stoops re-inserted 2005 starter Paul Thompson at quarterback, and the Schooner looked as if it would stay it's course. Then came the fiasco that was the ending of the Oregon game. I dare not rehash that. After a second consecutive loss to Texas, it looked as if it couldn't get much worse for OU, but it did. All everything running back Adrian Peterson broke his collarbone and missed the remainder of the regular season. What did this recipe for disaster spell? Well, for this Sooner bunch it spelled winning 7 straight games after Peterson went down, a Big XII Championship over long standing rival Nebraska, and a trip to the Fiesta Bowl. The Sooner nation was once again on high, overcoming all the odds and in the process gave the nation a peep that there will be life after Adrian Peterson in the form of Allen Patrick. Then the Fiesta bowl was actually played... After a 43-42 loss to Boise State that many consider one of the greatest college football games of all-time, the Sooners were left trying to figure out where all that momentum went. Well they found out it hadn't went too far apparently, as Stoops and his staff put together (on limited scholarships, mind you) the #14 rated recruiting class in the country. Yes the Sooner motto in 2006 should very well have been, "takes a lickin' and keeps on tickin' ".

However, one has to worry if time is about to stop (or in the Sooner's case, rewind back about 20 years). This Spring the Sooners will face their biggest, most imposing hurdle from the 2006 season: the NCAA infractions committee. While all the overall success of the 2006 season had the Sooner nation pleased, Bomar-gate still hangs over the the program. And soon we will have all the answers from the situation that started; closure to the 2006 season, if you will.

The Sooners have been called to meet before the NCAA infractions committee, for the second time in less than a year. The prior meeting took place in May, but the Sooners avoided major penalties. Although the May '06 meeting had nothing to do with the football program, OU is currently serving a probation for the May violations, and one has to be fearful if these football findings will add to OU's current situation. So now, the Sooner nation waits. The football program has until March 8, 2007 to respond to the NCAA's allegations. And then, the Sooner nation will wait again until the NCAA decides what, if anything, will be done.

Where did the Sooners go wrong? OU failed by not keeping tabs on their players' work situations. This has led to this mess. Whatever the rationale is for not knowing about this, it isn't good enough. I understand Stoops and his staff can't keep tabs on all their players 24 hours a day, and that at some point the student-athlete needs to show some responsibility. But come on; There is no way this should just slip under the radar as long as it did. However to OU's credit, the players involved were immediately removed once knowledge of Bomar-gate was discovered. OU could have easily taken the road so many college football powers take, and make the kids pay the money back and re-instate them. OU also imposed several sanctions of their own, which again they didn't have to do. For that they should be commended. But will it be enough? Will the Sooners get sanctioned for essentially ratting itself out? One would hope not, and such a move would seem very hypocritical by the NCAA. But hey, rules were broken and for that OU will be addressed.

And as of right now, Sooner fans are still hearing the "tick, tock" as they revel in early 2008 recruting success, taking 3 of the top players from the state of Texas. But as Sooner fans enter these meetings with the NCAA, there is the fear the "ticks" will not be followed by a "tock".