All eyes are on the Oklahoma Sooners entering year one in the SEC. Unlike the Texas Longhorns, everyone’s preseason pick to make a smooth transition into their new league, the Sooners have a lot to prove to the SEC and to national observers in 2024.
Oklahoma was picked to finish eighth in the SEC preseason media poll. While they’re the No. 16 team in the preseason US LBM Coaches Poll and AP Top 25, the Sooners are still eighth among SEC teams in the preseason rankings.
The hesitancy to pick Oklahoma to finish better is largely related to their schedule, one that features six teams ranked in the top 15 of both major polls.
Over at CBS Sports, Jerry Palm expects the Sooners to go bowling in 2024 despite their difficult schedule.
Palm has the Sooners traveling to Houston to play Iowa State in the Texas Bowl. Brent Venables and the Oklahoma Sooners have won each of the last two matchups against the Cyclones, winning by 14 in 2022 and then by 30 in 2023. It’s a series the Sooners have dominated 80-7-2. The only team the Oklahoma Sooners have beaten more than Iowa State is Oklahoma State.
In his projections, Palm has Georgia, Texas, Alabama, and Texas A&M making the [autotag]College Football Playoff[/autotag]. Ole Miss, Tennessee, Oklahoma, Kentucky, LSU, Missouri, and Auburn are all slated to make bowl appearances.
That’s 11 of the 16 teams in the SEC expected to play in the College Football Playoff or a Bowl game.
A bowl game for the Sooners wouldn’t meet expectations. Despite the schedule, this is a program that expects to contend for national titles. Missing out on the playoff would be a rough start to their tenure in the SEC.
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