Oklahoma’s struggled mightily over the last three weeks. It doesn’t feel like it can get much worse after being shut out in their most anticipated game of the season against their rivals, the Texas Longhorns.
Some key pieces are hurt right now, and with their return, we should see a slightly better product than what we are witnessing right now. Any hope for a Big 12 title went out the window on Saturday afternoon in Dallas. Instead, the Sooners will look to improve, regain some sense of pride, and try to resemble a traditional Oklahoma Sooners football team for the remaining part of the season.
If they can do that, they’ll be playing in a bowl game. And for a team with no championship to play for, that’s the next best thing.
ESPN has taken the liberty every Monday during the college football season to update their bowl projections (ESPN+) as we gather new information and insights about each team.
Even with three consecutive losses, the pundits at ESPN still believes Oklahoma will figure things out and become bowl eligible.
Kyle Bonagura projects Oklahoma to play in the Lockheed Martin Armed Forces Bowl against the Memphis Tigers of the American Athletic Conference.
Memphis touts an explosive offense led by Seth Henigan, a former high school teammate of current Sooner Billy Bowman.
Mark Schlabach sees Oklahoma taking on Oregon State of the Pac-12. in the Radiance Technologies Independence Bowl. Oregon State is a sneaky tough opponent that plays solid defense and leans on the run game to wear teams down. A date with them would make it back-to-back years the Sooners faced off against a Pac-12 team in a bowl game. Last year, they ended their season with a Valero Alamo Bowl win against Oregon.
Oklahoma has a long way to go before playing in a bowl becomes a reality. Their focus right now should be getting healthy and playing competitive football. They have a tough test ahead of them with the Kansas Jayhawks coming to town.
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