The 1985 Oklahoma football team was special to me. I can remember being extremely disappointed after the loss to Miami but also the elation of beating Penn State in the Orange Bowl to secure yet another national championship. That team was full of "villains" to the world of college football. Guys like The Boz and Keith Jackson were flamboyant and arrogant. You either loved them or hated them and while most of the nation couldn't stand them, they were adored by the Sooner Nation. Despite the loss to Miami they finished the season 10-1 and entered that Orange Bowl game as the #3 team in the nation and whipped top ranked Penn State 25-10. Love them or hate them one thing was for sure, the 1985 Sooners could back up their talk on the field. I loved that team but they finish second to my all-time favorite.
We only have to go back ten years to find my (and most everyone's) favorite Sooner team of all-time. The 2000 Sooners showed something special in their first four games against UTEP, Arkansas State, Rice and Kansas but it was what they did the following three weeks that set Sooner Land on fire. During that brutal October stretch Oklahoma defeated Texas, Kansas State and Nebraska by a combined score of 135-59. While Texas took the brunt of Oklahoma's dominant three week stretch (63-14 - I think Quentin Griffin just scored again) no team played the Sooners closer than 10 points.
The Sooners were rewarded with their first of six Big 12 championships over the next decade and a 13-2 win over Florida State in the Orange Bowl marked Oklahoma's seventh national title and first since the aforementioned 1985 squad. As if that wasn't already enough to make the 2000 team special the character of the men on the field was unquestionable. Quarterback Josh Heupel, running back Quentin Griffin, receivers Curtis Fagan, Andre Woolfolk and Josh Norman were all offensive stars and record setters but they were also men you would want your kids to grow up to be like. The same is true on the defensive side of the ball were guys like Rocky Calmus and Roy Williams would rip your head off to keep you from gaining an inch but there never may have been a more fan friendly group of athletes to play football on Owen Field.
Don't get me wrong. These guys had a mean streak and like 1985 they could talk the talk and walk the walk (see Torrance Marshall's promise to Chris Weinke at the coin toss of the Orange Bowl) but they lived, ate and breathed the concept of team. They looked out for one another with the defense standing up for the offense and vice versa. That's what makes them my favorite. The unselfish and team first attitude they played with was special and something that is uncommon in today's athletics.
That's my favorite team. How about yours?