Tag: 2024 Oklahoma Sooners Football

2024 SEC Media Days heading for the Lone Star State per report

According to a report from Brett McMurphy SEC Media Days are headed to the Dallas-Fort Worth Metroplex in 2024.

As the SEC meets for it’s 2023 media days in Nashville, Tenn., the location for the 2024 session already has a destination. According to a report from Brett McMurphy of Action Network, 2024 SEC Media Days will take place in Dallas, Texas.

2024 will be the first season that the SEC plays as a 16-team conference with the additions of the Oklahoma Sooners and Texas Longhorns.

It’s bound to be an extraordinary event as the blue blood programs are introduced to the SEC as league mates for the first time. If the attention Oklahoma and Texas received at Big 12 media days as departing members is any indication, the Sooners and Longhorns will create a lot of buzz next summer as well.

 

 

Update

Per SEC Commissioner Greg Sankey, 2024 SEC Media Days will take place at The Omni Hotel in Dallas, Texas, July 15-18.

As the SEC welcomes Oklahoma and Texas to the SEC, it will serve as a celebration of the expanded 16-team league.

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Oklahoma Sooners make the 2024 College Football Playoff in 247Sports projection

Oklahoma makes the expanded playoff field in 247Sports early 2024 College Football Playoff projection.

We haven’t kicked off the 2023 football season, but that’s not stopping people from looking ahead to 2024.

There’s a lot of excitement for 2024 for a great many reasons, including conference realignment and an expanded playoff. Oklahoma and Texas are headed to the SEC next summer, and USC and UCLA are moving to the Big Ten. The playoff is expanding to 12 teams.

So get ready for all sorts of fun in 2024.

Brad Crawford of 247Sports put out an early 12-team College Football Playoff.

This projection has the Sooners as the No. 4 team in the field, earning a first-round bye.

Unfortunately for the Sooners, they’ll face the No. 5 Alabama Crimson Tide in Norman for the second time that season.

Crawford has the Sooners falling to Alabama in that quarterfinal game. It’s unclear who he has winning the game earlier in the season, but if the Sooners were to win that one, it would be hard to beat Alabama twice in one season, no matter where it’s played at.

That ultimately sets up for an all-SEC final with the Georgia Bulldogs and Alabama facing off.

For Oklahoma, what a season that would be to make the playoff in their first year in the SEC.

I bet if you asked Oklahoma fans today about making the playoff in Year 1, they’d take that in a heartbeat.

But there’s still a lot of work to be done and the 2023 season to be played before that season is upon us.

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Sooners 2024 SEC schedule toughest, Longhorns 2nd easiest per CBS Sports

CBS Sports ranked each of the SEC schedules for 2024 and the Oklahoma Sooners came in with the toughest, while Texas the second-weakest slate.

Moving to the SEC was going to provide challenges. Of that, there was never a doubt. Yet, it’s still impressive to see Oklahoma’s SEC opponents for the 2024 season laid out on paper.

The Sooners will play Alabama, Tennessee and South Carolina at home. They’ll travel to play LSU, Auburn, Ole Miss and Missouri. Then there’s the annual matchup with Texas in the Cotton Bowl.

Simply put, it’s a tough schedule to navigate. Alabama is arguably the best program in the country over the last 15 years, and Tennessee’s on the upswing with Josh Heupel’s offense leading the way. LSU, Auburn and Ole Miss create incredible game-day environments.

Over at CBS Sports, Barrett Sallee ranked each of the 16 Big 12 schedules and your Oklahoma Sooners’ 2024 slate is considered the toughest in the conference.

Get ready, Sooners. Your first trip through the SEC gauntlet is going to be a monster. Two of their three true home games are against teams that hit the double-digit win mark in 2022 (Alabama and Tennessee), and they have to travel to three raucous road atmospheres (LSU, Auburn and Ole Miss). When you throw in the fact that coach Brent Venables had an extremely underwhelming debut in 2022, things might get sketchy. — Sallee, CBS Sports

2022 has no bearing on 2024. They will be completely different teams heading into Brent Venables’ third season in Norman. The 2022 recruiting class will be the core of that roster, with Jackson Arnold headlining at quarterback. The team speed and physicality will be at a different level, and it will be a more experienced group, especially on the defensive side of the ball. Especially if guys like Danny Stutsman and Billy Bowman stick around for one go-round in the SEC.

But it is a tough schedule. There’s no way around it. The Sooners have work to do on both sides of the ball to prepare the roster for the matchups they’ll face each week in their new conference home. But that doesn’t mean it’s an impossible schedule.

At the back end of the ranking with one of the weakest SEC schedules is the Texas Longhorns, who came in at No. 15.

We are all excited about the rekindled rivalry between the Longhorns and Aggies, and the fact that it’ll be on the road will make it an even tougher test for coach Steve Sarkisian’s crew. However, the other two true road games — Arkansas and Vanderbilt — more than make up for it. The Horns get Georgia at home, but their other three home games will likely be winnable. Sallee, CBS Sports

The Longhorns have the unenviable task of traveling to play the Vanderbilt Commodores (note sarcasm). Sure, they’ll host Georgia, and they return to College Station, but a schedule with Texas A&M, Kentucky, Mississippi State, Vanderbilt and Arkansas is fairly straightforward for Texas. If the Longhorns don’t go at least 6-2 in the conference, it will be incredibly disappointing.

Mississippi State had the second-best record of teams on their schedule in 2022. Everyone but Georgia and Mississippi State finished 7-6 or worse last season.

In contrast, six of Oklahoma’s eight opponents (including Texas) finished 8-5 or better in 2022.

Now, it’s impossible to get schedule equity in a 16-team league with historic rivalries to consider. The schedule was going to be tough, any way you slice it, and this is what the Oklahoma Sooners asked for.

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SEC missed an opportunity with Oklahoma’s 2024 opponents

Oklahoma’s SEC schedule is going to be a lot of fun in 2024, but the conference missed an opportunity leaving off a potential rivalry in the making.

An opportunity to capitalize on a regional rivalry that’s just itching to take off was sitting right there for the SEC commissioner and the conference schedule makers.

Fayetteville, Arkansas, is roughly 3 hours and 45 minutes away from Norman, Oklahoma. Arkansas is the closest SEC school to the Sooners by two hours. Arkansas‘ next closest matchup is the Missouri Tigers, a little more than an hour further from Norman.

Additionally, Fayetteville is just over two hours from Tulsa. Given its proximity to the border, the home of the Hogs is a stone’s throw from the Sooner State.

Managing to figure out an eight-game conference schedule with 16 SEC teams is no easy task. Yet, the simplest answer for the conference would have been to have Oklahoma and Arkansas meet in Fayetteville instead of the programs traveling to Auburn, Alabama, or Oxford, Mississippi.

Despite their proximity, the Sooners and the Razorbacks have met on the gridiron on only 15 occasions. The last was a 10-3 win for the Sooners in the Cotton Bowl at the end of the 2001 season. The last time the Razorbacks made the trip to Norman was back in 1926. Oklahoma hasn’t made the jaunt east to Fayetteville since 1919.

It’s a game that would generate a ton of local buzz for both states and provide a boon to the local economies. With the Sooners moving to the SEC and the future of Bedlam in doubt, a regional matchup like Oklahoma-Arkansas could be a rivalry in the making.

The Sooners and the Razorbacks will get their date to host one another down the road. However, the SEC should have broken the seal on the border war in 2024. Especially given the recent game between Arkansas and Texas. Sure, they’re old Southwest Conference rivals, but there’s no reason Oklahoma and Arkansas can’t create something similar. With the close proximity and the overlapping nature of the fan bases, the SEC had a chance to create a game on the conference schedule that just means more.

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‘SEC gave Oklahoma a gauntlet in 2024’: Tim Tebow excited to welcome Sooners to SEC

Speaking in reaction to the 2024 SEC opponents reveal, Tim Tebow said the conference “gave Oklahoma a gauntlet.”

We’re still more than a year from the Oklahoma Sooners and Texas Longhorns officially joining the SEC. However, that move has created so much anticipation that the conference was able to take advantage of the addition of the Big 12 blue bloods with a reveal of the Red River Rivals’ 2024 SEC opponents in a special on the SEC Network.

It had the college football world buzzing and for good reason. It’s a monumental move that sets up the SEC to have a number of incredible matchups throughout the 2024 season and beyond that it can promote to further enhance its brand.

Oklahoma’s SEC schedule has a great many intriguing matchups. And that intrigue is fueled by the strength of the schedule.

“I’m so excited to watch these teams play week in and week out in the SEC,” Tim Tebow told SEC Network’s Peter Burns. “But I gotta tell you, Peter, dang, the SEC gave Oklahoma a gauntlet in 2024. … They got to play Texas, Alabama, Tennessee, South Carolina, LSU, Auburn, Ole Miss and Mizzou. Come on man. Like, what a gauntlet Year 1. Hey, that’s like, you know, giving someone a hug and a spanking at the same time.”

The Oklahoma Sooners SEC opponents for 2024, no doubt, are daunting. But that was kind of the point of the SEC move. To get into the best conference in the country and compete week in and week out.

As Ric Flair so poignantly put it, “to be the best, you have to beat the best.”

There’s no doubt the SEC has been at the top of the mountain for some time. Their teams have dominated the national championships landscape for much of the last two decades. Among Georgia, Alabama, LSU and Florida, they’ve won 14 of the last 17 national titles. An absolutely ridiculous run.

Aside from maybe getting Vanderbilt on the schedule, there wasn’t going to be anything about Oklahoma’s 2024 conference schedule. But the Sooners wouldn’t want it any other way.

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5 takeaways from the Oklahoma Sooners 2024 SEC opponents reveal

Well, we are still a year away but that’s not stopping the anticipation of the Oklahoma Sooners heading to the SEC conference. Here are 5 takeaways from the schedule release.

Well, we are still a year away, but that’s not stopping the anticipation of the Oklahoma Sooners heading to the SEC.

That anticipation only grew after Wednesday’s announcement of who Oklahoma’s opponents will be in their inaugural season in the Southeastern Conference.

The Sooners will take on the Alabama Crimson Tide, South Carolina Gamecocks, and Tennessee Volunteers at home. Of course, the Sooners will take on the Longhorns in Dallas. They’ll travel to play the Ole Miss Rebels, Missouri Tigers, Auburn Tigers, and LSU Tigers.

So what are my immediate takeaways?

Twitter reacts to Oklahoma Sooners’ SEC opponents for 2024

The Oklahoma Sooners learned who their 2024 SEC opponents would be and here’s how Twitter reacted.

The Oklahoma Sooners have a slate of SEC opponents for the 2024 season. Though still more than a year away, the conference move just got real.

Part of the move to the SEC was to see a schedule packed with marquee matchups. Greg Sankey and his schedule makers hit it out of the park.

There are no gimmes on the schedule. There are some incredible matchups coming to Norman, and Oklahoma’s road slate looks incredible.

The Sooners welcome Nick Saban, Josh Heupel and Shane Beamer to Norman. They’ll go on the road to Auburn, Baton Rouge, Columbia and Oxford.

Oklahoma renews a rivalry with Missouri that is 96 games strong. Though it may not be the Red River Showdown or Bedlam, it’s a game with history. On the flip side, the Sooners will break the ice with South Carolina, welcoming the Gamecocks to Norman for the first matchup between the two schools.

This is what the Oklahoma Sooners and Texas Longhorns were looking for when they opted to move to the SEC. Big-time matchups on a week-to-week basis that will keep the college football world buzzing.

Will it be easy? Absolutely not. But it’s going to be a lot of fun.

Twitter was buzzing with the announcement, and here are some of the best reactions.

Oklahoma expected to host Alabama in 2024 per ESPN report

With the 2024 SEC schedule set to be released, ESPN’s Chris Low is reporting the Oklahoma Sooners will host the Alabama Crimson Tide.

A new era of college football is set to be revealed during a special on the SEC Network Wednesday night at 6 p.m. CT on SEC Network. The show will air from 6 p.m. to 10 p.m.

We knew Texas will be on the schedule on an annual basis. However, a report from Chris Low of ESPN gives us the second opponent on the eight-game conference schedule for the Sooners.

According to Low’s report, the Sooners will play host to the Alabama Crimson Tide in the 2024 season.

All 14 existing SEC schools will play either Oklahoma or Texas in 2024, with sources telling ESPN that Georgia will visit Texas and Alabama will travel to face Oklahoma. – Low, ESPN

The SEC is expected to schedule each of their 14 members against Oklahoma or Texas during the 2024 season, which will create a great many interesting matchups throughout the schedule.

Alabama hasn’t made the trip to Norman since 2002, a 37-27 win for the Oklahoma Sooners. OU holds a slight edge in the all-time series, 3-2-1.

The Crimson Tide won the first matchup in the series, 17-0, in the Orange Bowl to end the 1962 season. Alabama’s win in the 2018 College Football Playoff was its first over the Sooners since that 1962 matchup.

Now with Oklahoma joining the SEC, the two teams will become much more familiar with each other, playing twice in a four-year span.

We’re still waiting to find out when the two sides will play during the season, but whichever Saturday the matchup falls, it will create an incredible buzz in Norman.

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Questions that need to be answered for OU football in 2024

There are three questions that could be the difference between OU having another disappointing season or getting back to the Big 12 championship.

We are still a few months from the start of the college football season. The Sooners went 6-7 last year and addressed a number of issues this offseason so far, but what questions still remain?

There are three questions that I believe could be the difference between OU having another disappointing season or getting back to the Big 12 championship.

There’s no secret last year, the Sooners didn’t have the players they needed to play the way Brent Venables wanted them to play. They also didn’t have the all-time great quarterback to save them as they had in the Lincoln Riley era.

The defensive line, wide receiver room and Venables’ game management are three areas in which the Sooners still have unanswered questions.

We will not know an answer to those questions until probably the Texas game.

The defensive line is still a question mark, especially inside. The staff did a great job adding players to address the defensive tackle spot, but how many of those guys are actual game-changers?

That’s not a knock on the staff, game-changing defensive linemen don’t go into the portal too often. I think Rondell Bothroyd and Da’Jon Terry are solid starters, but will those guys be the game-wreckers the Sooners need up front?

Both need to be better than what we saw last year. If they can just hold up in the run and take that away, I think Venables can figure out ways to generate pressure with blitzes. Last year’s issue was they couldn’t stop the run, and they couldn’t rush the passer. Not a good combo.

This will be an issue we will not know an answer to until about midseason. Because of the way the Sooners started last year, you would have thought OU had a great D-line and then they fell off.

The next question is who will be the wide receiver that steps up for the Sooners? Marvin Mims is no longer coming through that door. Jalil Farooq has potential, but he struggled with drops and didn’t reach 500 yards last year as a second option.

Is Andrel Anthony the answer? He struggled with drops at Michigan and rarely played. We keep hearing great things about Nic Anderson and Jayden Gibson, but Anderson struggles with injuries and Gibson struggles with drops (see the game-winning pass in the spring game).

Maybe it’s one of the freshmen? That’s a possibility but we have to wait to  see on that. I know he’s not a wide receiver, but I like Austin Stogner as much as anyone. However, he also has never had 500 yards receiving and had only 210 yards last season for South Carolina. Can he replace Brayden Willis’ numbers? I don’t know.

Lastly, Venables has to be better at time management. There were times last year he admitted to talking to the defense and then looking out on the field and seeing OU punting and wondering what happened. He has to be more hands-off with the defense during the games and let the coaches coach them while he focuses on helping Jeff Lebby know when to go fast and when to slow down.

I think that’s one reason James Skalski was brought on board. Now, we have to give Venables a little bit of a pass because it was his first year coaching, but he better make improvements there or the Sooners can’t go where they want to go this season.

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What’s next for Oklahoma after losing out on 5-star linebacker?

What’s Oklahoma’s linebacker pursuits look like after missing out on 5-Star target Sammy Brown?

Just a day after five-star linebacker [autotag]Sammy Brown[/autotag], the No. 14 overall prospect, committed to Clemson, the Sooners are working on what is next.

This is the second big piece at linebacker the Sooners were hoping to land who chose to play elsewhere. Four-star [autotag]Peyton Pierce[/autotag] committed to Ohio State.

We know the Sooners are still in contact with Pierce, so a flip is possible.

Could a flip also be possible for Brown? It’s possible but unlikely. As of right now, he’s scheduled to be in Norman for the ChampU BBQ, but it’s unclear if he has canceled that visit.

Now, would Brent Venables recruit against his old team after a player has committed there? He previously didn’t, but I think he would in this scenario since he’s now been gone for a little more than a year.

So, if the Sooners can’t flip either of those prospects, what do they do next? Some names we’ve heard are three-star [autotag]Michael Boganowski[/autotag], four-star Tyanthony Smith and, more recently, three-star [autotag]Easton Baker[/autotag].

None of those three bring the same hype as a five-star, but one thing  Venables knows very well is linebacker play. That’s something I would trust him on regardless of a rating.

So let’s break down each player, starting with Boganowski.

Some people see him as a hybrid. He’s 6 feet, 2 inches and 200 pounds and lives in Junction City, Kansas, an area Venables has had success in. The main competition will be Kansas State. According to On3, the Sooners hold a slight lead.

When talking about Oklahoma, he told Rivals a week ago, “They are going to the SEC, and they have made it clear that I am a priority. Coach Brent Venables is a winner, and it would be cool to play in one of his defenses.”

Smith’s recruitment is going to be a dogfight. He’s a highly-talented player from Jasper, Texas. He’s 6 feet, 1 inch and 205 pounds. Several schools are after him; Texas and Texas A&M appear to be Oklahoma’s main competition.

[autotag]Baker[/autotag] is a 6-foot, 190-pound linebacker from Tooele, Utah. He has come up quite a bit recently. Washington State looks to be the Sooners’ main competition. He was originally committed to BYU and will be in Norman for the ChampU BBQ on June 16.

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