Football Season Comes to Close, Oklahoma Teams Head to Bowls
LAST TIME: University of Tulsa quarterback Paul Smith, who has set almost every school quarterbacking record worth setting, will make his final appearance in a blue and gold uniform at the GMAC Bowl Jan. 6.
HARRY LENTZ for GTR Newspapers
Oklahoma college football fans have reason to rejoice this year as the state’s three major colleges are headed to bowl games.
While University of Tulsa and University of Oklahoma fans can relax in their living rooms and watch their favorites in post-season action, many Oklahoma State University fans will either have to head to a friend’s house, a sports bar or be content to hear the exploits of the Cowboys on the radio.
The Dec. 31 Insight Bowl game between Oklahoma State (6-6) and Indiana (7-5) is going to be televised by the NFL Network, which can be seen in Tulsa only by viewers having Dish (Satellite) Network, DirectTV or the Cox Communications package that includes channel 252.
The game has been allocated to KSBI (Channel 52), an Oklahoma City independent station, but efforts by Tulsa television station KOTV to carry an over-the-air signal have been rebuffed.
Fans of the Oklahoma Sooners and the Tulsa Golden Hurricane will have a much easier time of it. Oklahoma (11-2) plays a West Virginia (10-2) team that seemed a lock to play for the national championship until it suffered a shocking upset loss on the last week of the season. The Fiesta Bowl contest between the two national powers will be played at 7 p.m. Jan. 2 and can be seen on station KOKI (channel 23/cable 5).
The Tulsa Golden Hurricane (9-4) lost the Conference-USA championship game to the University of Central Florida but will have a favored spot on the television schedule. TU will play the next-to-last college game of the season (only the BCS National Championship game will be played later) against Bowling Green in the GMAC Bowl on Jan. 6. It will be the only game played that night and will be seen nationwide on ESPN (cable 25).
All three Oklahoma teams started out as favorites. Odds makers quickly established Oklahoma State as a four-point favorite over Indiana, Oklahoma as a seven-point nod over West Virginia and Tulsa as a 4.5-point pick over Bowling Green.
Updated 12-17-2007
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