This offseason, the one topic I keep seeing broached when the media talks about Oklahoma is how "Big Game Bob" Stoops is no longer; Stoops has somehow forgotten how to win the "big ones" because he keeps losing in BCS bowl games. This topic is really becoming tiresome to hear about, because the whole mythology behind "Big Game Bob" is a media creation.

When OU experienced their "Red October" in 2000, defeating top three top 10 teams (texas, Kansas State, Nebraska) in four weeks, the myth of "Big Game Bob" began. The myth only grew with wins over Kansas State in the Big 12 Championship in Kansas City and Florida State in the BCS Title Game in the Orange Bowl. His reputation at a big game coach grew as he continued to win important games, including a five-game winning streak over texas, and bowl wins in the Cotton and Rose Bowl, along with another Big 12 Championship in 2002. His reputation for winning big games took a slight hit in 2003, when a team that some media members were calling possibly the greatest college team of all time was upset by Kansas State in the Big 12 Championship Game, and then lost to LSU by a touchdown in the Sugar Bowl. His reputation really took a beating after OU won another Big 12 title in 2004, only to get slaughtered by USC, 55-19 in the 2005 Orange Bowl. BCS bowl losses to Boise State in 2007, West Virginia in 2008, and Florida in 2009 have virtually made the "Big Game Bob" myth a punch line.

The problem is, the whole "Big Game Bob" persona is a media creation, and they are tearing down what they created. Bob Stoops never strutted into a press conference and announced "Big Game Bob is in the room". He never referred to himself by that nickname. This isn't Steve Spurrier, the "Ol' Ball Coach". This is simply Bob Stoops, head coach of the University of Oklahoma football program. Because he is a wildly successful coach who has won at a high level, Stoops has earned the right to treat the media how he wants to, and he is sometimes surly with them. Because he is a winning coach, the media needs him more than he needs them, he knows this, and he uses it to his advantage. The media response for his surliness is to rip him for his recent lack of success in BCS bowl games. "Big Game Bob" can't win the big games anymore, they say.

The problem with this mythbuster the media is now propagating is that it isn't true. Has Stoops struggled in recent BCS bowl games? Yes. But to say he can't win big games anymore ignores the fact that the man has won three consecutive Big 12 Conference championships. If you think a Big 12 title game isn't a big game, ask a texas fan if they thought the 2001 loss to Colorado was a big game. Ask a Missouri fan if they lost a big games the last two years when OU defeated them in the 2007 and 2008 conference championship games. There is also a simple issue that at a legendary program like OU, every game is a big game. If you don't believe it, try being the coach there and losing a game.

My real issue with this myth is that it ignores the reality of what Stoops is doing at Oklahoma. Stoops has won over 80% of his games overall, and 83% of his conference games. Oklahoma has won five conference titles during Stoops' ten year tenure, which means they are a good bet to win a conference title at least every other year. No other Big 12 coach, and few coaches nationally (only Urban Meyer and Pete Carroll come to mind) can boast of a record that matches or surpasses his level of success. Instead of complaining about the absence of "Big Game Bob", a fictional character they created, the media should just enjoy watching one of the greatest coaches of the modern era do his thing.