The Sooners kept the Aggies in check all night, leading 21-0 at halftime and 35-0 in the third quarter, on the way to a final OU 42-14 victory in Norman last night in primetime. With two higher-ranked BCS teams (Boston College and Arizona State) posting losses yesterday, the Sooners' BCS chances are definitely improved today—but a lot of things still have to break OU's way for the Sooners to have a chance at a post-new-year's trip to New Orleans, not the least of which is winning the next four games.

The Noble Men (and Women) of Kyle—The Pulse of the Spirit of Aggieland Nationally Famous Fightin' Texas Aggie Marching Band returned with one of their strongest performances at Owen Field in many years, and as usual, the home crowd showed great appreciation for their signature style and familiar marches.

There's a book about The Noble Men (and Women) of Kyle—The Pulse of the Spirit of Aggieland Nationally Famous Fightin' Texas Aggie Marching Band, published by Texas A&M Press. Entitled The Fightin' Texas Aggie Band, the book's description begins, "They always win the halftime."

The Austin American-Statesman newspaper (which, by the way, has now figured out that Oklahoma defeated Texas this year) would agree, as one columnist wrote today:

The Aggies were the fourth-best group on the field Saturday, behind the Sooners, the A&M band, and the OU band, which provided a nice little dance rendition of Michael Jackson's "Thriller."

That's neither the only nor the first column to rank the Texas A&M organizations in that order.

However, I'm reasonably certain that if I'd had an applause meter on the field last night, The Pride would have won in a squeaker. The Noble Men (and Women) of Kyle—The Pulse of the Spirit of Aggieland Nationally Famous Fightin' Texas Aggie Marching Band always gets a fantastic reception in Oklahoma Memorial Stadium during their biannual visits, but the 64-count Thriller dance in The Pride's tribute to Halloween easily was one of the most loved performances ever.

If you're lucky, you might get to see some of this Saturday, as the Sooners host the Baylor Bears in home game #6 of the 2007 season. The game, but probably not the dance, will be televised live on Fox Sports Network, with kickoff scheduled for 5:30 PM CST.

Update: Watch the Thriller dance performed during halftime from the view of The Pride seats here, or again during the post-game concert here.