Stoops named nation's top college football coach

Stoops was selected from a field of six finalists in voting by the National Sportscasters and Sportswriters Association last night.

Other finalists were Florida State's Bobby Bowden, South Carolina's Lou Holtz, Oregon State's Dennis Erickson and Miami's Butch Davis.

Dennis Franchione, who was at Texas Christian before being named coach at Alabama, also was a finalist.

Stoops and the Sooners may have raised the bar for speed in reaching the top.

The coach says he knows there will be pressure on him to win another national championship. He calls it the - quote - "nature of the beast."

The Sooners finished 13-and-0 and defeated Florida State 13-to-2 in the Orange Bowl.