This being America and all, I&#8217;ll never understand the near-violent opposition to sportswriters settling college sports&#8217; No. 1 debate at the ballot box.</p><p>There should be no surprise that Associated Press and Harris Poll voters picked the right team in the Oklahoma-Texas debate. Meanwhile, the coaches&#8217; poll and I&#8217;ll presume several computer rankings screwed up the Big 12 South standings, giving the Sooners a slight edge in the BCS standings and sending them to the Big 12 championship game at Arrowhead Stadium.</p><p>The AP poll is composed of mostly legitimate journalists. The Harris poll is made up of a mixture of journalists, former coaches and players.</p><p>AP and Harris voters could comprehend a simple, unavoidable fact: On a neutral field, Texas beat Oklahoma 45-35 this season.</p><p>There&#8217;s nothing left to debate. It doesn&#8217;t matter that Oklahoma&#8217;s nonconference victories are more impressive than Texas&#8217;. It doesn&#8217;t matter that Oklahoma is playing &#8220;better&#8221; football at the end of the season.</p><p>Texas beat Oklahoma.</p><p>And I don&#8217;t care about the three-way tie, and the fact that Texas Tech beat Texas. We&#8217;re allowed to use common sense when deciding a complex situation.</p><p>The Red Raiders lost a game by 44 points this season. The Red Raiders barely beat Baylor this season. The Red Raiders needed a last-second touchdown to slip by Texas.</p><p>Tech had a magical year, beat up a bunch of cupcakes early and hung on for an 11-1 season. It&#8217;s a fluke. Oklahoma exposed the Red Raiders and Mike Leach&#8217;s gimmicky offense.</p><p>There was one primary question to debate Sunday morning when filling out a ballot: Texas or Oklahoma?</p><p>Journalists answered appropriately. The AP and Harris had Alabama No. 1 followed by Florida, Texas and Oklahoma. The coaches were wrong twice. They ranked Alabama No. 1 followed by Oklahoma, Texas and Florida.</p><p>In my view, the Gators should be No. 2. Their one loss &#8212; a 31-30 defeat at the hands of Ole Miss &#8212; was far more fluky than Texas&#8217; or Oklahoma&#8217;s. Florida turned it over three times against Ole Miss, and the Rebels scored 31 points despite gaining just 10 first downs. And I have to believe Florida has faced stouter defenses in the SEC than what the Sooners and Longhorns have seen in the Big 12.</p><p>Look, my main point is that it&#8217;s criminal Oklahoma will get to play for the Big 12 crown and not Texas.</p><p>Everybody allegedly wants a playoff system, but it appears we reserve the right to ignore what happens on the field when it suits our purpose.</p><p>(Unfortunately, this includes sportswriters, too. I never agreed with my peers when we gave 12-1 Florida State the 1993/94 AP national championship over an 11-1 Notre Dame team that beat the Seminoles.)</p><p>We&#8217;ve set the stage for a split national champion.</p><p>Oklahoma is likely to thrash Missouri on Saturday. I&#8217;ll take Florida over Alabama in the SEC title game. We&#8217;re going to have two one-loss teams in the BCS championship game &#8212; probably Oklahoma and Florida &#8212; and a one-loss national champion.</p><p>Texas should slap Ohio State in the Fiesta Bowl.</p><p>If Florida routs Oklahoma, then the Gators will more than likely be No. 1 in the final AP poll. If the game is close or Oklahoma wins, then a strong case could be made for Texas (or even USC) winning the final AP vote.</p><p>A perfect world for the Big 12 would be a BCS title for Oklahoma and an AP title for Texas.</p><p>I&#8217;m rooting for Texas. The Longhorns earned a Big 12 title on the field (they&#8217;ve already smacked Missouri), and they deserve a shot at the national title. And I&#8217;m a Bob Stoops fan and someone who still believes the state of Texas ruined the Big Eight.