We present radial-velocity ( RV ) measurements for the K giant \nu Oph ( = HIP 88048 , HD 163917 , HR 6698 ) , which reveal two brown dwarf companions with a period ratio close to 6:1 . For our orbital analysis we use 150 precise RV measurements taken at Lick Observatory between 2000 and 2011 , and we combine them with RV data for this star available in the literature . Using a stellar mass of M = 2.7 M _ { \odot } for \nu Oph and applying a self-consistent N-body model we estimate the minimum dynamical companion masses to be m _ { 1 } \sin i \approx 22.2 M _ { \mathrm { Jup } } and m _ { 2 } \sin i \approx 24.7 M _ { \mathrm { Jup } } , with orbital periods P _ { 1 } \approx 530 d and P _ { 2 } \approx 3185 d. We study a large set of potential orbital configurations for this system , employing a bootstrap analysis and a systematic \chi _ { \nu } ^ { 2 } grid-search coupled with our dynamical fitting model , and we examine their long-term stability . We find that the system is indeed locked in a 6:1 mean motion resonance ( MMR ) , with \Delta \omega and all six resonance angles \theta _ { 1 } , \ldots, \theta _ { 6 } librating around 0 ^ { \circ } . We also test a large set of coplanar inclined configurations , and we find that the system will remain in a stable resonance for most of these configurations . The \nu Oph system is important for probing planetary formation and evolution scenarios . It seems very likely that the two brown dwarf companions of \nu Oph formed like planets in a circumstellar disk around the star and have been trapped in a MMR by smooth migration capture .