Why National Media is Confident Oklahoma Will 'Figure It Out In the SEC'

Some media and fans follow the misconception of a "massive gap" in talent between the Sooners and Texas and wonders if OU is SEC-ready, but one writer asks, "Is the SEC ready for them?"

Oklahoma coach Brent Venables and the Golden Hat Trophy / BRYAN TERRY/THE OKLAHOMAN / USA TODAY

DALLAS — The results of this week’s preseason SEC football poll seem to align with the broadly held perspective that Texas is more ready for the SEC than Oklahoma is.

The Longhorns received the second-most votes to win the 2024 championship behind heavy favorite Georgia. Oklahoma was picked to finish eighth in the conference race — probably for the first time in school history.

But not all national media subscribes to the idea that Texas is far more ready-made for the SEC than Oklahoma.

“I have no long-term concerns about Oklahoma’s success in the SEC,” On3 Sports’ Andy Staples told Sooners on SI at SEC Media Days. “I have no concerns about that whatsoever. OK? Because Ohio State is the most recession-proof program in the sport. Oklahoma is a close second. And everybody else is way back.”

Staples, who has covered the national college football beat for Sports Illustrated, ESPN and The Athletic, recalled the Sooners’ five-year drought in the late 1990s as the program’s only sustained dip since Bud Wilkinson introduced national championships in 1950. 

“That’s the part about Oklahoma I’m not sure a lot of these SEC fan bases understand yet,” Staples said. “They’re looking at Oklahoma and Texas and saying, ‘Oh, can you handle the week-to-week grind?’ Oklahoma figured it out in the Big Eight, they figured it out in the Big 12, and they’ll figure it out in the SEC.”

While Texas coach Steve Sarkisian is going into his fourth year in Austin, OU’s Brent Venables is beginning Year 3 in Norman. So Sarkisian is a year ahead of Venables in the race to build the program and establish the culture — and that’s probably what’s at the root of the notion that the Longhorns are more ready for SEC rigors than the Sooners.

Two years ago, Texas wiped the floor with Oklahoma 49-0 as Venables’ inaugural team stumbled to a 6-7 start while Texas finished 8-5. That day in the Cotton Bowl, Dillon Gabriel didn’t play and the Sooner coaching staff didn’t have a backup plan ready, so the game wasn’t competitive.

But Gabriel played in last year’s Red River Rivalry, and led OU to a dramatic comeback victory.

Still, that ended up being Texas’ only regular-season loss, while Oklahoma lost road games at Kansas and Oklahoma State. The Longhorns went on to win the Big 12, while the Sooners almost back-doored their way to a rematch in the title game as BYU almost upset OSU. 

Texas finally found its way to the College Football Playoff — its first — while OU bungled through an Alamo Bowl loss to Arizona.

Now, Texas is the preseason media darling in its new conference, while OU is picked to finish eighth.

“That’s just recency bias,” CBS Sports’ Dennis Dodd told Sooners on SI.

A recent example: SEC Network personality Paul Finebaum came to Norman for an NCAA Regional Tournament softball game, took a tour of the Barry Switzer Center — and seemed oddly blown away.

“I know I”m going to sound like I’m easily awed, but just walking around the trophy case at OU, not that I’ve ever forgotten, but it’s just a reminder of the greatness of that program,” Finebaum said. “It made me pause for a second and think about how great this university is. I feel like I’m stating the obvious, but until you see it first-hand, it doesn’t quite register or resonate.”

OU owns seven national championships and has erected heroic-sized statues to each of its seven Heisman Trophy winners. The Sooners own more conference championships than any other program, 50. Their bowl history and All-American tally and Hall of Fame count measures up with any program in history.

But Finebaum, the voice of the SEC, seemed almost surprised by OU’s rich heritage.

“That's the cone of silence that exists over the SEC sometimes,” Dodd said. 

“I always say, like, sometimes they don't think the Pac-12 even played the same game resembling football. That's how they regarded football on the West Coast. I'm talking about the group think in the SEC, and that has to do with it. But I never thought I'd hear that about Oklahoma. Where have you been?”

During their stay in the Big 12, OU won 14 conference championships, while Texas won just four. Head to head, OU leads 17-8 since 2000 and leads the series 40-36-3 since WWII.

“That comment by Nick Saban that Texas is not going to rule the SEC like they did the Big 12 — there was context there, and he was right,” Dodd said. “He was talking about the boardroom. He wasn't talking about the field. … Where they ruled was the boardroom and they got their way. Whether it was partial qualifiers or choice of commissioner or (relocating the conference office to Dallas) or this or that.” 

Josh Pate is host of the Late Kick Live Podcast and also contributes to CBS Sports. He’s eager to see what this year’s matchup in the Red River Rivalry looks like when OU and Texas meet again on Oct. 12. 

“When you get down to that day, nothing’s different,” Pate told Sooners on SI. “There’s a different conference sticker on their helmets, but nothing’s different. There’s no difference than if they had stayed in the Big 12 and played this upcoming year.”

Pate, Dodd and Staples all agreed that Texas’ 2024 roster seems better equipped than Oklahoma’s. 

“Oklahoma will be a point-spread underdog. It’s a role that’s very familiar to them,” Pate said. “Right now, we think offensive line is a weakness. Maybe they get B-level offensive line play. Maybe Jackson Arnold is not turnover prone like he was in the bowl game. The point is, it’s always been that way. It’s OU-Texas. Nothing’s different.”

“Yeah, this year, it's Texas,” Dodd said. “But this is a lifetime decision. The typical fan and media concentrate on, ‘Are they ready for the SEC?’ Well, is the SEC ready for them?”

“Texas probably comes in in a better place,” Staples said. “Like, I’m sure Brent Venables would love to have Tyler Guyton and Walter Rouse right now. If they didn’t have to completely retool their offensive line, you’d probably feel a lot more comfortable going in and playing that schedule. But, this is the deepest Oklahoma’s defense has been in a while.”

Staples said Texas coach Steve Sarkisian has done a nice job finding and developing future NFL talent, and referred to a Barry Switzer quote from 2012 about Oklahoma not having guys like Gerald McCoy or Tommie Harris squatting down with their hand in the dirt — and thinks that may be changing.

“I think they’re both gonna be able to be competitive in the SEC long-term,” Staples said. “OU I was always sure about. I guess Texas, maybe I need to see a little more proof? I feel like they’ve kind of figured out how to make NFL players again, which was part of their problem. 

“For a while, that was kind of the Big 12’s problem, is that Oklahoma was the only team putting out NFL players. … I remember when David Stone committed, I was like, ‘Oh, they might have figured it out.”

Likewise, Pate has been impressed with Venables’ recent recruiting efforts, and thinks that will ultimately make the difference for the Sooners getting SEC-ready.

“That staff at Oklahoma proved themselves last year,” Pate said. “They’ve proven themselves now with back-to-back-to-back top 10 recruiting classes. They’ve portaled top 10. So I’m not buying anyone who’s selling me there’s a massive gap in those rosters. I’m just not.”