Oklahoma 24 - 0 Louisiana Tech (9:50 left in 2d quarter)

As we saw with Baylor last year, these early-season games against Big XII powers are not very competitive.  Oklahoma already has this game well in hand, so we'll probably just do a wrap up tomorrow.

Oklahoma v. Louisiana Tech

Oklahoma took the Big Gold Trophy in the last game of the regular season last year, with a stirring upset of rivals Oklahoma State.  Then the Sooners pounded Alabama in the Sugar Bowl to keep the trophy.  Now they get to open the 2014 season with what should be a few relatively easy games, the first of which is today's home opener against LaTech.  These two schools have never met, but LaTech won only four games last year and Oklahoma is 71-3 at home against unranked foes since Bob Stoops became their coach.  Vegas has installed the Sooners as 35-point favorites, and that seems low to me.

Louisiana Tech

It's time for another year in the Unofficial College Championship.  The current holders, Oklahoma, defend the crown today at 6 P.M. Central in a home game against Louisiana Tech.

In 1894, the U.S. economy was reeling from the Panic of 1893, one of the worst economic disasters ever suffered in this country.  Things were particularly grim in the rural South, which had still not recovered from the Civil War.  At the time, a lot of Southerners were attracted to the idea that the South should try to imitate the North and devote more resources to industrialization.  So it's not surprising that the Louisiana legislature approved an act creating the Industrial Institute and College of Louisiana, which was supposed to instruct white children in the arts and sciences.  The Institute opened in Ruston in 1895.

In 1898, the name was changed to the Louisiana Industrial Institute.  By 1921, the Institute had begun issuing the degree of Bachelor of Science in Engineering.  The same year, it was renamed the Louisiana Polytechnic Institute.  The current name -- Louisiana Tech University -- arrived in 1962, soon after LaTech began awarding Masters degrees.

Unlike Georgia Tech or Texas Tech, Louisiana Tech has never been a big-time football program.  Back in the 1920's, Governor Huey Long put his support behind LSU, and the Tigers have dominated the sporting scene in the Pelican State ever since.  But LaTech has a nice history of its own.  The Bulldogs won the national Division II title in 1973, and they won the 2008 Independence Bowl.  They are probably best known as the alma mater of Terry Bradshaw.

LaTech has never won the UCFC, although they have played for it four times since moving to Division I-A in 1988.  The closest of their four UCFC losses was a 31-42 defeat to Miami (Fla.) on October 28, 2000.  Their last UCFC appearance was on November 10, 2007, when holders LSU beat them 58-10.