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It isn’t simply because the Oklahoma Sooners are the six-time defending Big 12 Champions. It isn’t because they’re returning their starting quarterback or that they have one of the best coaching staff’s in the country that the Sooners are the favorites to hoist the conference title again in 2021. It’s that this is as complete and talented a team as this fantastic coaching staff has had to work with in the five years of Lincoln Riley’s tenure.
Brandon Marcello of 247Sports predicts the Oklahoma Sooners will win the Big 12 Championship yet again in 2021.
Oklahoma once again led the Big 12 in scoring offense in 2020, but did you know the Sooners had their best defense (statistically) since 2009? Yup. The Sooners allowed only 21.7 points per game under defensive coordinator Alex Grinch. If the defense improves again, perhaps Oklahoma can win its first playoff game.
With a season of experience under Rattler’s belt, the Sooners will be difficult to slow down in 2021. They should run away with a seventh straight conference title on the way to their fifth playoff appearance. – Brandon Marcello, 247Sports
Unlike the offense from 2020, this is an experienced group ready to build off of a season that saw them finish 11th in the country in yards per play and third in the Power 5 in points per game.
With a year under their belt, Spencer Rattler and Marvin Mims are ready to take their games to the next level. The return of Kennedy Brooks and the incoming transfers of Eric Gray, Wanya Morris, and Mike Woods provide the Sooners with a ton of experience up and down the depth chart.
But it’s the defensive side of the football that has people the most excited. With a veteran and talented group in their own right, they have a shot at building off a defensive performance that saw them finish 21st in the nation in scoring defense in 2020.
Much of that success came in the second half of the season after allowing 40 points per game to Iowa State, Kansas State, and Texas in their first three Big 12 games. The Sooners held their conference opponents to just 17 points per game over the final seven games of the season.
This is an Oklahoma Sooners team that is ready to take the next step. They’re a veteran group that played a lot in 2020 and learned from their early-season mistakes. There are lofty expectations for the Sooners as they enter 2021, but that’s nothing different than what Spencer Rattler’s dealt with his entire playing career.
As Rattler and Lincoln Riley set the tone, this could be the year the Sooners break through the College Football Playoff’s glass ceiling. There will be challenges along the way, even in Big 12 play, but this Oklahoma Sooners team should overcome any would-be challengers for their Big 12 crown.