It is no secret that things are going to be a bit difficult as the Oklahoma Sooners transition from playing Big 12 football to playing SEC football — which is the premier league in the sport. Games against Alabama, Texas, Ole Miss, Missouri and LSU makes for an incredibly tough first campaign, and their 2025 schedule will feature the same opponents. With this, most are assuming Oklahoma is going to be quite average after jumping conferences.
Are the Sooners being overlooked? 247Sports analyst Josh Pate seems to believe so, claiming Oklahoma will be a surprise team in the upcoming season behind play from quarterback Jackson Arnold.
Oklahoma is being overlooked heading into the SEC
“I don’t think the casual crowd is overlooking Oklahoma,” Pate claimed. “The casual crowd doesn’t even necessarily know all [Oklahoma] lost in the offensive line. They don’t even necessarily know the quarterback situation. The casual crowd knows Oklahoma is a solid brand and they’ve recruited really well.”
Evidently, a good portion of Oklahoma will look different in the upcoming season. Obviously Jackson Arnold is taking over under center with a fresh offensive line, but even the coaching scene looks different. With new coaches on both sides of the ball, the brand of football the Sooners play could see quite a bit of change.
“[The casuals] are probably taking Oklahoma more seriously than the diehards. And in this particular case, the casual crowd may be early to the party and you guys may be late to the party because everyone pays attention to what you lose in college football and they don’t pay enough attention to what you have,” Pate continued.
What is the Sooners ceiling in 2024?
While it’s easy to make assumptions about this football team, it’s time to burn them. After a 6-7 season in Brent Venables’ first season with the program, he responded with a 10-3 record a season ago in the Sooners’ final Big 12 campaign. While it’ll be difficult to play in the SEC, this team and coaching staff has to make its own arrival and declare itself.
“Oklahoma did lose a lot on the offensive line. Oklahoma did lose a starter at quarterback,” Pate said. “But they also have the former Elite 11 winner and MVP in Jackson Arnold, who is two years in, he’s not a true freshman. And they have recruited at a level that has them at a top ten roster talent status. It’s not like they’re going to put potato sacks out there at the offensive line.”
There seems to be a lack of respect for the Sooners by the oddsmakers and fans around the sport, and it’s hard to make any claims as such until the programs establishes itself in its first season in the SEC.
“Is Oklahoma being overlooked? I think they are,” Pate claimed.
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