BIG 12 CHAMPIONSHIP Sooners the better vs. Colorado

Peterson and White accounted for three touchdowns each in Oklahoma's big win.
KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) -- Munching on an orange after the game, Oklahoma tailback Adrian Peterson had a pretty good idea of where the Sooners are heading next.
OU made its Orange Bowl invitation a no-brainer Saturday night, getting three touchdowns passing from Jason White and three more running from Peterson in a near-flawless 42-3 dismantling of Colorado in the Big 12 title game.
Next comes a trip to Miami where No. 2 Oklahoma (12-0) will play for its eighth national title against No. 1 Southern California.
"This whole season, we played hard, finished games," Peterson said. "I'm not saying we made a statement today, but we went out and busted our butts for four quarters."
Both USC and No. 3 Auburn -- the other national-title wannabe -- also took care of business Saturday; the Trojans defeated UCLA 29-24, and the Tigers beat No. 15 Tennessee 38-28.
Impressive
But neither contender was anywhere near as impressive as coach Bob Stoops' Sooners.
"There aren't any parts missing, I don't believe," Stoops said. "You saw it all the way through. The offense has the ability to make plays running or throwing. The defense has been good, and fortunately, we did it at the right time."
White finished with 254 yards and threw all his touchdowns over the first 15:07. Two went to Mark Clayton, who made a sweet, reaching, fingertip catch on the second for a 21-0 lead. Clayton finished with eight catches for 106 yards.
Peterson surpassed the century mark in the second quarter for his 11th 100-yard rushing game, an NCAA record for a freshman. He finished with 172 yards and saved the best for last, breaking six tackles for a darting, spinning 32-yard score and a 42-3 lead. That touchdown prompted Sooners fans to start throwing oranges onto the field -- a tradition like no other.
Peterson and White did the Heisman voters no favors; they entered the weekend as two presumed favorites, and leave it just the same way.
"White, he was on. If you slip, or do something too slow, it's a catch," Buffs defensive back Terrence Wheatley said.
"Peterson, I've never seen someone that strong, that big."
In Colorado (7-5), the Sooners had the perfect foil for a statement game like this.
The Buffs turned their year of turmoil -- dogged by a sex and recruiting scandal and the spring suspension of coach Gary Barnett -- into a feel-good story by capturing the Big 12 North with a stirring, late-season, three-game winning streak.
But their appearance in the title game couldn't mask the fact that they are, at best, only the fourth- or fifth-best team in a conference where all the good teams played in the other division.
"Our team is embarrassed by our performance," Barnett said. "We were inept at best. We played a very, very good football team and we were just not prepared to play that team today."