NORMAN, Okla. - Three tied with three to play.

Nearly a season of games has failed to provide any Big 12 South Division separation between Oklahoma, Texas and Texas Tech. And like a good baseball pennant race, it's going to come down to the final weekend.

Fifth-ranked Oklahoma set up the possibility of the South being decided by a tiebreaker with its 65-21 dismantling of No. 2 Texas Tech Saturday night. Should the Sooners, Longhorns and Red Raiders finish deadlocked at the top, the Bowl Championship Series standings of Nov. 30 would decide which team plays Missouri in the Dr Pepper Football Championship on Dec. 6 in Kansas City.

After absorbing its public flogging in front of a stadium-record crowd of 85,646, Texas Tech must now root for Oklahoma State. If the Cowboys defeat Oklahoma Saturday in Stillwater, the Red Raiders (assuming they defeat Baylor) can win the South Division if they finish in a tie with Texas.

The rhetoric regarding the polls started about 30 minutes after the score went final.

"Obviously, now we're in the mix with everybody," Oklahoma coach Bob Stoops. "The logic of moving us in front of Texas and not doing that because they beat us ... well, then you've got to keep Texas Tech ahead of Texas. Logical for one is logical for another.

"If you're forgiving a team (Florida) for losing once at home to an unranked team by saying they're playing well, we're playing pretty well right now, too."

And you thought the political campaigning ended on Nov. 4.

The game also jumbled the Heisman Trophy race. Texas Tech quarterback Graham Harrell entered as the favorite but the lopsided loss and his numbers (33-of-55, 361 yards, three touchdowns) might change some minds. Teammate Michael Crabtree had six receptions for 62 yards and had his 13-game streak of touchdown receptions end.

Quarterback Sam Bradford (14-of-19, 304 yards, four TDs) enhanced his Heisman hopes. His 43 touchdown passes set a school record.

The Sooners' offensive line should get some consideration for a unit-wide Outland Trophy. OU spent the game running down hill against an overmatched Texas Tech defense.

"That's the way to do it in big games," OU offensive line coach James Patton said. "The guys rose up and accepted the challenge. Aw, we should have got 300 (yards rushing instead of 299)."

The Sooners came by their victory the old-fashioned way. They used a punishing ground game and their tight end (Jermaine Gresham sparked a first-half flash burn with 95 yards on five catches).

Since suffering their only loss, a 45-35 defeat to Texas, Oklahoma has played like a team possessed, winning give games by the average score of 59-28. Unlike the economy, the Sooners' offense is on a steady climb scoring 45, 58, 62, 66 and 65 points.

And against Texas Tech, OU's maligned defense undressed the the nation's second-ranked offense.

Oklahoma's defense produced four sacks and pressured Harrell on the majority of his 55 attempts. Defensive coordinator Brent Venables described the onslaught as "precse and violent."

"We heard Graham say on ESPN that nobody could get to him," OU defensive tackle Gerald McCoy said. "We took that as a challenge. We never let him get comfortable."

If there can be a turning point in a game decided by 44 points, it happened on Texas Tech's third possession.

The Sooners scored on their first crack for a 7-0 lead but penalties derailed their second possession. The Red Raiders got a 13-yard run and a 10-yard reception from Baron Batch and had a first-and-10 at the OU 36.

The thrust was blunted by sacks on consecutive plays when Harrell was swamped by Adrian Taylor and then Gerald McCoy. Texas Tech had attempted 80 passes without allowing a sack but those two failures on pass protection led to a Sooner tsunami.

"Hopefully we quieted all the doubters about our defense," freshman linebacker Travis Lewis said. "We played with a chip on our shoulders. We had two weeks to prepare and that really benefits the defense. We were pretty fired up, we had our best week of practice we've had all year.

"It starts and ends with our D line. They controlled the line of scrimmage and caused havoc."

Oklahoma entered the game outscoring its opponents 201-27 in the first quarter. After the first 15 minutes, the Sooners only had a 7-0 lead.

So much for pyrrhic victories.

The Sooners exploded on Texas Tech with 35 second-quarter points, equalling the school record for most points in a second period. Oklahoma's first three scoring drives that ended in the second act required 1:44, 1:17 and 1:46.

Trailing 28-0, Texas Tech raised Red Raider hopes with a four-play, 57-yard scoring drive. Harrell threw three downfield passes; two were complete, the second to freshman Tramain Swindall for a 25-yard TD with 6:28 remaining.

It took the Red Raiders 23:32 to remove the zero from their side of the scoreboard. That's the longest it has taken Texas Tech to score this season (the Raiders didn't score against Nebraska until 4:49 remained in the first quarter).

Oklahoma's response? A grinding 80-yard drive that required 12 plays; 11 were runs. The only pass play was a middle screen that Murray took 13 yards in a spectacular, circular fashion. Reserve Chris Brown, who would start on most teams, blasted off the left side for a 4-yard TD to make it 35-7.

"Against a team like Oklahoma, you can't squander plays like we did today," Texas Tech coach Mike Leach said. "We over tried. Rather than just trying to do the little routine plays, we tried to make super plays in the first half."

And if that wasn't good enough, the Sooners regained control two plays later. Harrell's deep pass down the middle was intercepted by Lewis. He returned it 47 yards. "I wanted to house it so bad," he said.

Murray finished it off with a 1-yard scoring run that made it 42-7 with 18 seconds remaining.

Texas Tech attempted six fourth-down conversions and failed three. Trailing 42-7, the Red Raiders tried a surprise on-side kick to start the second half but senior safety Nic Harris wrestled the ball away from Tech's Lance Fuller.

"The score showed it all," Harris said.