As Hawkeye Nation Waits...

(Picture Courtesy of ESPN.COM)

Good Afternoon Hawkeye Nation! Some of you may be Christmas shopping to take your mind off of this afternoon's games, and some of you may be watching Oklahoma State vs. Oklahoma (the most important game for the Hawkeyes this afternoon). Here's what we know, and what we should be pulling for the rest of the day.

1. The Oklahoma offense has not looked good (at least in the fist half)- Oklahoma has only converted one first down on eight attempts. The run game has been shut down by a good Cowboy front line (only 29 yards). The pass game has been OK to say the least with Landry throwing for 137 yards but is only 10/24. Look for Bob Stoops to light a fire under his offense.

2. Oklahoma States offense isn't any better- The Cowboys are 0-9 on third down, with only 105 total yards in a first half that had three reviewed fumbles. Zac Robinson has looked a little shaky after taking a big late hit in the first quarter. He is 8/14 for only 37 yards. But the Cowboy running game has been decent racking up 68 yards.

3. This is going to be a defensive battle- The Sooner defense is stingy and battling their butts off to make sure this Cowboy offense doesn't score.

What the Hawkeyes need: A big second half offensively from the Sooners, as well as their defense to stay strong. Oklahoma State is the biggest threat to any Big Ten team pursuing a BCS at large bid. A loss to the Cowboys takes them out of contention. We need Arizona to beat Arizona State (with every Wildcat win, our out of conference schedule looks better). The Hawkeyes have the upper hand if the Sooners win because Ohio beat Temple (Temple was Penn State's best out of conference win. They were 9-0 after the loss in Happy Valley and looking very strong).

So with that we watch and wait! Oklahoma just added a field goal after an impressive drive that got stalled at the Cowboy 10 yard line after a holding call. 13-0 Sooners! More to come later!

3rd Quarter:Jonathan Nelson intercepted Zac Robinson at the 50 yard line and returned it for 37 yards to the Cowboy 13 yard line. DeMarco Murray then punched it in for his 44th career touchdown with a 12 yard run. 20-0 Boomer Sooner. The Sooner defense has played with focus, poise, and are looking really really good.

4th Quarter: And that about puts an exclamation point on this game. With 10:20 left in the game and the Cowboys facing a 4th and 25 on their own 20 yard line, Oklahoma State came out to punt. After the kick, Ryan Broyles took the the punt and started running across field, a few good blocks later, Broyles sprung free. 87 yards later and a terrible effort by Quinn to stop the return Oklahoma is up 27-0. The Cowboys went three and out again, and the Sooners have the ball with 6 minutes left in the game.

Final: That's the game folks, Oklahoma 27, Oklahoma State 0. Not only did the Cowboys get embarrassed but they got attacked, harassed, hassled, pestered, jumped on, badgered, beleagued, desecrated, banged up, and victimized. So what does this mean? We need another blow out from Zona today, to make our out of conference schedule look even better compared to Penn State. Next weekend we need Cincinatti to beat Pitt at Heinz Field (if Pitt wins, they get the Big East automatic bid, and Cincy will most likely take the at large bid over another Big Ten team). We also need Georgia Tech to beat Clemson next weekend as well as Texas over Nebraska (both would get the BCS at large bid over another Big Ten team if they lost).

What would be nice: It would be nice if Georgia took out Georgia Tech tonight on ESPN 2. If Tech lost tonight they would be 10-2 with a tough game against Clemson left to play for the ACC Championship. IF they lost again next week they would be 10-3 which would most likely eliminate them from an at large bid. With a Tech loss tonight, there could possibly be THREE Big Ten teams in the Top 10 (in a down year too!). So my beloved Hawkeye Nation, things are shaping up very nicely so far, but we still need some more help. Keep your fingers crossed and go Bulldogs and Wildcats!

Update: Zona wins with a last second field goal over Arizona State. It wasn't the blow out that we were hoping for, but a win, is a win. Thank you Zona for making us just a little bit better to the BCS!