OU puts Big 12 atop college football world

DALLAS (AP) _ When the Big Eight and Southwest Conference merged to form the Big 12 ``superconference,'' this was what its founders expected from every football season: <br><br>A unanimous national

Friday, January 5th 2001, 12:00 am

By: News On 6

DALLAS (AP) _ When the Big Eight and Southwest Conference merged to form the Big 12 ``superconference,'' this was what its founders expected from every football season:

A unanimous national champion. Three Top 10 teams. Five in the Top 25.

Oklahoma's victory in the Orange Bowl, which capped an undefeated season and No. 1 ranking, was as much a crowning achievement for the 5-year-old conference as it was for the school.

The Sooners gave the Big 12 its first outright national champion. The closest had been in 1997 when Nebraska was voted No. 1 in the coaches poll but was second to Michigan in The Associated Press writers poll.

There also were near misses in '96 and '98, when the Cornhuskers then Kansas State saw undefeated seasons end in the Big 12 championship.

``It's great to get the monkey off our back as far as not having won an undisputed national championship,'' commissioner Kevin Weiberg said Thursday. ``Internally, we weren't putting that kind of pressure on ourselves, but when the conference was formed, there were some high expectations. And every year that goes by that you don't get to that level, it does add to it.''

The Cornhuskers were eighth in this season's final AP poll and Kansas State was ninth, marking the first time the league has finished the season with three teams ranked that high.

While the Pac-10 topped the Big 12 by having teams ranked Nos. 3, 4 and 7, the West Coast league had no other teams in the top 25. The Big 12 also had Texas at No. 12 and Iowa State at No. 25.

The SEC placed the most teams in the Top 25 with six, but five of them were ranked between No. 18 and 24. A seventh SEC school, Tennessee, was one voting point shy of tying Iowa State for 25th.

This is the first time since 1981 that the Cyclones have been ranked and it's their first appearance in the postseason poll since 1976.

``To have a breakthrough for them is another good mark for the conference, that there's good depth,'' Weiberg said. ``Just a couple of years ago, Oklahoma was 3-5 in the Big 12. It shows you can go from being somewhat mediocre to strong. That ought to give hope to everyone in our conference.''

In becoming the conference's first undisputed champion, the Sooners (13-0) struck a mighty blow for the Big 12 South, which has been the weaker half of a league that's often been bitterly divided between the divisions.

But Oklahoma's 13-2 victory over Florida State couldn't hide an ugly disparity in the bowl records of the divisions.

With victories this bowl season by Nebraska, Kansas State, Iowa State, North schools are 18-5. OU's victory was only the second for the South against 12 losses, including defeats this bowl season by Texas, Texas A&M and Texas Tech.

Seminoles coach Bobby Bowden apparently expected the Sooners to continue that Big 12 South skid.

``They are a better team then I thought they were. They were for real,'' he said. ``Bob Stoops was saying it all week, but we all assumed _ I assumed _ that the Big 12 wasn't that good.''

The biggest obstacle the Sooners faced was getting out of the conference unscathed. They beat Texas when it was No. 10, Kansas State when it was No. 2 and Nebraska when it was No. 1.

Oklahoma also won at Texas A&M and held off Kansas State in a rematch in the league's title game, which could've gained a reputation as a graveyard for national championship dreams had the Sooners stumbled.

``That's just something you have to live with on an annual basis in any conference that has the kind of strength and depth of quality teams we have,'' Weiberg said. ``That makes what Oklahoma did even more impressive.''

The Big 12 also had five Top 25 teams in the 1997 and '98 postseason polls.

While there have been two Top 10 teams in three of the previous four years, the best showing among those was last year when Nebraska was third and Kansas State sixth.