My OU Sooners and their high expectations this Fall - my .02

[KJ]

yea i agree they will always be relevant, i just dont think joining the sec will help get better recruits than they getting now, they doing pretty well, maybe being ou will give them a boost but i have heard that from other teams and didnt seem to change much in way of recruiting.

We still haven't seen how the SEC is going to restructure divisions but I assume they just move Auburn and Bama to the East and drop OU and UT in the West. Instantly that would make OU, LSU, A&M the most likely consistent contenders in the West with Lane having an occasional say too

 

[2daBank]

We still haven't seen how the SEC is going to restructure divisions but I assume they just move Auburn and Bama to the East and drop OU and UT in the West. Instantly that would make OU, LSU, A&M the most likely consistent contenders in the West with Lane having an occasional say too

assuming they eventually get to the 12 team playoff it gonna be anywhere from 4-6 sec teams in it most years so prob not a real big deal where they play!

 

[majent]

Think they can be at UGA/LSU level, Bama will be tough but remember before Saban they were fighting for bowl eligibility too

OU isn't just going to disappear as a power, reason UT has is their boosters from what it seems

I agree.

 

[M.W.]

I think ya'll bigger problem aint the coach it moving to the sec! might be a blessing in disguise getting a guy with the defensive acumen of Venables. Cant even imagine what some those sec offenses would have scored on some of riley recent defenses!! lol. then again every time Venables took one his clemson defenses up against bama or lsu they shredded him so maybe it doesnt matter and offense is the key!! Look what bama just did to uga defense i thought was one the best we seen in some time!! offense is king, especially in college fb these days.

Not exactly. The one time they played LSU without Burrow aned Brady, it was 25-24 Clemson. Alabama's offensive points went down every time they played Clemson. 38 to 31 to 24 to 16 (with Tua). Venables learns from experience.

 

[majent]

OC is officially Lebby from Ole Miss so now let's see who Brent hires for DC though we all know he will be all over that side of the field.

 

[TahoeLegend]

again, great post, but one thing i believe we will see is that OU will attract even better talent than they already do, by joining the SEC.

i'm thinking more 5 star guys than they typically get. tons of 3 and 4 starts already go to Norman, but now i can see more 5 stars heading there..

yea i agree they will always be relevant, i just dont think joining the sec will help get better recruits than they getting now, they doing pretty well, maybe being ou will give them a boost but i have heard that from other teams and didnt seem to change much in way of recruiting.

Anything's possible, but we can look at every conference in the country and the one thing we see over and over, without exception, is that over the long haul the schools with the most money, most rabid and loyal alums, and located in the best recruiting areas, dominate the have-not schools.

And no school ever had a better situation than Oklahoma has had. Oklahoma has more local recruits every year than Kansas State, Iowa State. Kansas, and West Virginia combined, plus they have first choice on Texas recruits. I can't remember a single time Oklahoma State ever beat Oklahoma for an in-state recruit Oklahoma wanted. There's not a single player on Baylor, Texas Tech or TCU that OU wanted. In fact, I don't think there is a single recruit at any Big 12 school OU even offered except for a few at Texas

Every year, Oklahoma knows the day the schedule comes out they have better talent than anyone they are going to play. Texas is capable of having talent that good or even better some years, but otherwise OU knows the day practice begins they will win every conference game except Texas and they know that may be a challenge.

Things can change over the short-term, a few years, maybe a decade, if the wrong coaches are hired, but Oklahoma knows as long as they have a good coach they are always looking at a conference title and an undefeated season. Every fan and player and recruit and player in the country knows the same thing. That's one of the reasons Oklahoma gets all those good recruits. They grow up knowing Oklahoma gives them a shot at glory

Now Oklahoma will become a have-not school. The states of Georgia, Alabama, Louisiana, Mississippi, Florida, Tennessee, S Carolina, all produce more good players by far than Oklahoma. Arkansas and Missouri produce about the same. Texas produces a bundle and Texas players have always been the reason Oklahoma has been great, but will those players be interested in going to Oklahoma when Oklahoma's sales pitch changes from, come to Oklahoma and win a national title to, come to Oklahoma and help us try to win our division against schools with more resources?

So will Oklahoma still be a power? I guess it's possible, but I don't see a single factual reason that supports it. No other school in any other conference has ever been an elite program competing against schools with more resources.

I think they will be just like Nebraska, a team struggling for an identity against teams with every advantage. And we know how fast Nebraska fell from powerhouse to afterthought

 

[twinkie13]

Think they can be at UGA/LSU level, Bama will be tough but remember before Saban they were fighting for bowl eligibility too

OU isn't just going to disappear as a power, reason UT has is their boosters from what it seems

I tend to agree, but could be like Tennessee….which I think is a university back on path. Not saying OU is Tenn, but

 

[twinkie13]

Not exactly. The one time they played LSU without Burrow aned Brady, it was 25-24 Clemson. Alabama's offensive points went down every time they played Clemson. 38 to 31 to 24 to 16 (with Tua). Venables learns from experience.

That was a great game and the start of the Clemson rise in my estimation….taking about the bowl game before Natty

 

[KJ]

I tend to agree, but could be like Tennessee….which I think is a university back on path. Not saying OU is Tenn, but

I have OU as a pretty big leg up on Tenn/MSU/Ole Miss/Ark/Auburn and even Florida. Well up on SCary, Mizzou, Vandy, UK. That might be our discrepancy. Really comparing any of those teams to Oklahoma would be tough to do in my book.

 

[twinkie13]

I have OU as a pretty big leg up on Tenn/MSU/Ole Miss/Ark/Auburn and even Florida. Well up on SCary, Mizzou, Vandy, UK. That might be our discrepancy. Really comparing any of those teams to Oklahoma would be tough to do in my book.

Yea, I might’ve been speaking a bit out of school and OK has had wayyyy more recent success…they have some some similarities to me and I can’t out my finger in it I guess. I may be also thinking Heupel is on the rise and seeing into the future a bit…

 

[TahoeLegend]

I have OU as a pretty big leg up on Tenn/MSU/Ole Miss/Ark/Auburn and even Florida. Well up on SCary, Mizzou, Vandy, UK. That might be our discrepancy. Really comparing any of those teams to Oklahoma would be tough to do in my book.

You have them up on those teams because you are comparing the record of those schools, playing a meat-grinder schedule of SEC teams, to the Oklahoma that got to play Big 12 schools that can't come close to comparing in talent and resources. And yet Oklahoma lost two conference games and barely survived in four others. And that's with them knowing they never had to play a team with equal talent

Half those schools you mention would have beaten OU this year and competed for, probably won, the Big 12 title.

Forget non-conference games for discussion's sake. Let's say Oklahoma this year had played a schedule of Auburn road, Ole Miss home, Texas in Dallas, Tennessee home, Arkansas road, S Carolina road, Miss State home, Mizzou home, Kentucky road. That's about as easy a schedule as can be imagined in the SEC. How much money would you bet Oklahoma could finish 8-1 or 7-2 or 6-3?

You're a good handicapper so my guess is you wouldn't bet a cent. I know I wouldn't and that list doesn't even include Bama, Georgia, LSU, Texas A&M, and Florida. I wouldn't risk a cent they could have even finished above .500

But take the schedule Oklahoma played this year and you'd bet your house they'd be over .500.

It's a different life when you have to fight just to survive every week and Oklahoma has never had to do that in modern history

 

[KJ]

You have them up on those teams because you are comparing the record of those schools, playing a meat-grinder schedule of SEC teams, to the Oklahoma that got to play Big 12 schools that can't come close to comparing in talent and resources. And yet Oklahoma lost two conference games and barely survived in four others. And that's with them knowing they never had to play a team with equal talent

Half those schools you mention would have beaten OU this year and competed for, probably won, the Big 12 title.

Forget non-conference games for discussion's sake. Let's say Oklahoma this year had played a schedule of Auburn road, Ole Miss home, Texas in Dallas, Tennessee home, Arkansas road, S Carolina road, Miss State home, Mizzou home, Kentucky road. That's about as easy a schedule as can be imagined in the SEC. How much money would you bet Oklahoma could finish 8-1 or 7-2 or 6-3?

You're a good handicapper so my guess is you wouldn't bet a cent. I know I wouldn't and that list doesn't even include Bama, Georgia, LSU, Texas A&M, and Florida. I wouldn't risk a cent they could have even finished above .500

But take the schedule Oklahoma played this year and you'd bet your house they'd be over .500.

It's a different life when you have to fight just to survive every week and Oklahoma has never had to do that in modern history

My considerations completely took adjustments into consideration. Almost think the move of conference is going to be overrated, OU are not suddenly in the middle of the pack of the SEC. I think that's goofy think.

 

[TahoeLegend]

OU are not suddenly in the middle of the pack of the SEC. I think that's goofy think.

Well, you may be right, and as an alum I hope you are, but what are you basing it on?

How can Oklahoma go from a conference where they have more resources and a better recruiting bases than any team they play--and it's not even close--to a conference where at least two-thirds of the teams have far better local recruiting and equal resources and still dominate?

Or to put it another way, when, in the entire history of football, has a team in a state that produces fewer college prospects than the states where the other teams in the conference are located ever been able to compete?

And if you think a move to a different conference is overrated how do you explain Nebraska? There was no program in the country more successful and respected than Nebraska, but as soon as they left the Big 12 and moved to a conference where they had to play teams with superior recruiting bases and equal--or superior--resources they lost everything.

And Oklahoma is moving to a tougher conference than Nebraska did.

I think Oklahoma should be a little more competitive than Nebraska has been--they have a far better recruiting base than the Huskers--but I think they'll be like Auburn or Kentucky--able to pull off an upset now and then, be a tough out when the better schools are coming off a rival or getting ready for one the next week, be tough at home, be respectable as long as they have a good coach.