The Oklahoma Sooners are set to enter the meat of their 2024 football schedule. With no disrespect intended toward the FCS Maine Black Bears, the Sooners are done with nonconference, and SEC play has begun.
When they host the Tennessee Volunteers, OU will be a home underdog. It’s unfamiliar territory for a team that’s been one of the most successful programs in the 21st century.
But the past doesn’t dictate the present. Oklahoma has to win football games. Entering the SEC, there’s no misconception about the challenges that lie ahead. Six of the Sooners’ remaining nine games come against teams ranked in the US LBM Coaches Poll. Five of those teams are in the top 10 in the nation. It’s a murderer’s row of games that OU will have to navigate if they want to find their way into the College Football Playoff.
On a recent episode of his podcast, Fox Sports college football analyst Joel Klatt sees the difficulty that lies ahead on the Sooners’ schedule.
“Brent Venables has a horrendous schedule in front of him… If you’re Brent Venables and anyone from OU, how do you look at your schedule and then look at Missouri’s schedule and you’re like, “time out. Are we in the same league? What is going on?”… They’re not in the same hemisphere. One might as well be a Group of Five schedule (Mizzou’s) versus an NFL schedule (Oklahoma’s). They are miles apart. I think Georgia could say the same thing, I think Florida could say the same thing. Those three schools are looking at Missouri and being like, “Are you serious? Are you serious?” This is why I maintain, and I said it in yesterday’s episode, that Missouri’s record is going to be better than their team. Meanwhile, Oklahoma’s record is going to be worse than that of their team. And I think that starts this week.”
https://twitter.com/JoelKlattShow/status/1836888150410420735
To quote the great Lee Corso, “not so fast my friend.” Are we just going to jump to the conclusion that Oklahoma’s record will be worse than their team’s? Klatt’s not wrong about the schedule disparities between Oklahoma and Missouri, and other SEC schools. But that’s the way the cookie crumbled this year. Oklahoma’s decade of success prior to entering the SEC informed conference schedule makers that one of the winningest programs in college football history could handle it.
And we don’t know how well they’re going to handle it. A lot of analysts assume that Oklahoma’s going to struggle. And they may. But there’s also a chance they find success in year one in the SEC. They have a coach that knows what it takes to be successful against those programs.
Brent Venables has built a roster, especially on defense, that looks more and more like an SEC roster all the time. They’ve got good size and talent on both sides of the ball and Venables has recruited well since arriving in Norman. OU has one of the higher blue-chip ratios in the country and have a number of players that will be playing on Sundays on this roster.
Yes, the schedule is tough, but that doesn’t mean Oklahoma can’t handle it.
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