Oklahoma Football Preview 2025: The Sooners Will Play – and Win – Like an SEC Program originally appeared on College Football News.
This isn’t exactly working like it’s supposed to. At least not yet.
When all this Oklahoma-and-Texas-to-SEC stuff started up, the big question was about a Longhorn program that couldn’t navigate its way through the Big 12. How was it supposed to handle life in the SEC?
Oklahoma had won ten games or more 18 times in 22 years, and it was expected to hit the SEC ground running. And then things started going wrong.
Oklahoma coach Brent Venables locks arms with players before the Armed Forces Bowl football game between the University of Oklahoma Sooners (OU) and the Navy Midshipmen at Amon G. Carter Stadium in Fort Worth, Texas, Friday, Dec. 27, 2024. Navy won 21-20.© BRYAN TERRY/THE OKLAHOMAN / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images
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Oklahoma Offense Breakdown
Oklahoma Defense Breakdown
Season Prediction, Win Total, Keys to Season
Brent Venables took over the head coaching job in 2022, couldn’t catch a break in close games, losing five by one score, and had the same bad luck in 2023 when his team lost two regular season games by a total of eight points.
Going into last year, Oklahoma seemingly had the parts, and then just about every receiver got hurt, there was a rash of injuries everywhere else, star prospect quarterback Jackson Arnold didn’t quite work out, and the SEC went all SEC on the Sooners.
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Tennessee – ten point loss. South Carolina – blowout loss. Ole Miss – 12-point loss. Collapse at Missouri, blowout loss at LSU, ugly 31-point whacking from Texas.
The final kick in the teeth came in an Armed Forces Bowl loss to Navy, all while Texas was off coming within one galactically stupid play call away from possibly playing for the national title.
But it’s Oklahoma. This is quickly fixable.
The Sooners cranked up a power move in the portal, getting Washington State quarterback John Mateer, Cal running back Jaydn Ott, and a whole slew of other guys who’d be all-conference stars at other places.
That, and the problems of last year are now a positive. All of those injuries and all of those issues developed an almost unfair level of depth in a portal era.
The receiving corps is loaded. The linebacking corps is loaded. The defensive line is loaded. And now Oklahoma is good enough to challenge – and beat – anyone in the SEC.
That’s the good news – along with not having to play Georgia or Texas A&M. The bad news is that the Sooners have to play just about everyone else who’s good in the SEC, and deal with Michigan.
But that’s the cost of doing business in the big leagues. And this year, Oklahoma should be ready to play – and win – like an SEC program.
Oklahoma Offense Breakdown
Oklahoma Defense Breakdown
Season Prediction, Win Total, Keys to Season
This story was originally reported by College Football News on Jun 7, 2025, where it first appeared.
