BIG 12 Sooners refocus after loss

Oklahoma shouldn't have any trouble bouncing back today at Baylor.
WACO, Texas (AP) -- The Oklahoma Sooners still have championship aspirations, even if they've blown their chance to play for the national title.
Last week's loss at Texas A & amp;M knocked Oklahoma (8-1, 4-1 Big 12) out of the No. 1 spots in both The Associated Press poll and Bowl Championships Series standings. But the fourth-ranked Sooners still have control in the Big 12 South division.
Immediate goals
"You have to have more immediate goals -- to win your division, to win a Big 12 championship," Oklahoma coach Bob Stoops said. "You have to really set your sights and focus in on that first and foremost, and if you're fortunate enough that things line up right, you may have something more after that."
The Sooners shouldn't have any trouble bouncing back today when they play at Baylor (3-7, 1-5).
Oklahoma has won all 11 games played in the series, the last three by an average margin of 32 points. The Bears, with just two games left under fired fourth-year coach Kevin Steele, are coming off a 41-0 loss at Texas that was their fourth shutout loss of the season.
In a season that has gone so bad for Baylor, the Sooners' 30-26 loss last weekend may have been one of the worst things to happen. That setback likely will only reinforce Oklahoma's focus.
"Our goals are still out there. That's our motivation right now. We're looking at Baylor and know we have to win the next three and Baylor's the first one," Oklahoma center Vince Carter said.
"I think it may be easier now to focus on what's next, because there's no margin for error," Stoops said. "I believe overall we're a stronger team than a year ago and I think our players are in a good position to go after it."
No guarantees
The Sooners better not be banking on the expected blowout win over the Bears to help them in the BCS standings.
After its 41-point win over Baylor last week, Texas actually dropped from fourth to fifth in the BCS rankings.
Baylor is playing its final home game under Steele, who remained to coach the final three games after being fired Nov. 3. Steele is 9-34 overall and 1-29 in the Big 12.
In the five games since breaking a 29-game Big 12 losing streak on Oct. 5 against Kansas, the Bears have been outscored 222-21. That includes shutout losses to Texas A & amp;M (41-0), Colorado (34-0) and Texas.
Steele isn't trying to use his situation as a motivation for his players.
"We can't just keep on beating a dead horse," Steele said. "We know we have an opportunity to play football and give it our best shot. That is what we have to do. We have to move on. We can't keep talking about what happened."
Oklahoma has lost consecutive games under Stoops only once, in 1999 -- his first season -- when the Sooners lost at Notre Dame and then against Texas. Since then, the Sooners are 4-0 in games after a loss, and have won those games by an average margin of 37-3.
"There have been lots of upsets this year, and more are probably coming up," Baylor senior receiver Reggie Newhouse said. "Any given Saturday, anything can happen."