Alabama vs. Oklahoma: rare meeting for tradition-rich teams

Friday, September 6th 2002, 12:00 am

By: News On 6

NORMAN, Okla. (AP) _ Mention Alabama and memories turn to Bear Bryant studying practice from his tower and walking the sideline in his houndstooth hat. Mention Oklahoma and thoughts turn to Barry Switzer and the wishbone.

The two schools have combined for 1,459 victories and 86 bowl games. Oklahoma has seven national championships, the Crimson Tide six.

So much tradition, so few head-to-head meetings.

They play in Norman on Saturday in only the third game between the two. This is the first time they will meet in the regular season and their first game since the 1970 Astro-Bluebonnet Bowl.

``This is why you coach, to get to coach in these kinds of games,'' Alabama coach Dennis Franchione said. ``It's why players come to Alabama, to play in these kinds of games.''

No. 2 Oklahoma won the 2000 national title with a passing attack, and is working to bolster its running game. Alabama's last national championship came in 1992, 10 years and three coaches ago.

The unranked Crimson Tide are serving a five-year NCAA probation handed down in February that prohibits the team from playing in bowl games this year and next. None of the accusations involved Franchione or his staff, and he dismissed the suggestion this could serve as Alabama's bowl game.

``I don't look at it this way. I don't feel like our players do,'' he said. ``In our regard, it's Game 2 and we've got a long schedule ahead of us.''

But it's still special. Alabama's .717 winning percentage is the third-highest in college football, behind Notre Dame and Michigan. Oklahoma is tied for fifth with Texas, at .707.

Alabama's 745 victories are fifth-most all time. Oklahoma has 714, good for ninth place. Alabama's 51 bowl games and 29 bowl victories are more than that of any school; Oklahoma has been to 35 bowl games and won 22 of them.

``I don't want to sound like, 'Oh, we don't care because it's the next game and that's all we care about.' That's dumb,'' Alabama quarterback Tyler Watts said. ``It's a big game. A huge game.''

Oklahoma opened its season with a 37-0 victory over Tulsa on the road. The Sooners led only 3-0 at halftime before scoring five second-half touchdowns.

Alabama's opener was less than spectacular as well. After taking a 22-0 first-quarter lead, the Crimson Tide had to hold on for a 39-34 victory over Middle Tennessee.

Both teams expect to know much more about themselves after this game. Oklahoma ran for 378 yards and had more than 500 total yards last week, but Tulsa doesn't have athletes comparable to those at Alabama. The Crimson Tide is in a similar spot _ moving the ball against Oklahoma will be different from doing so against Middle Tennessee.

``They've got a lot of talent. They're physical up front on both sides of the ball,'' Stoops said. ``Talented people, winning tradition. We understand it's a great challenge and our players are excited about it.''

Stoops said he always enjoyed watching Alabama as a child, and later admired the way the Crimson Tide played defense during its 1992 championship season. Stoops went against Alabama twice while defensive coordinator at Florida, in the 1996 Southeastern Conference title game and during the regular season in 1997. Florida won both games.

Franchione coached against Oklahoma while at TCU, losing 10-9 in 1998, the year before Stoops arrived.

Stoops and Franchione play down the notion that the players could get too caught up in the excitement of the moment.

``We've been in a bunch of big football games around here,'' Stoops said.