Is Oklahoma looking forward to playing Alabama this year?

Oklahoma was able to cap off a disappointing regular season in 2024 by spoiling Alabama’s playoff hopes handing the Crimson Tide a crushing late season loss on the road to Brent Venables squad.

This fall, the Sooners will look to build off the victory during its first season as a part of the SEC but this year the rematch will be had in Tuscaloosa inside Bryant-Denny Stadium.

Despite the 24-3 blowout from the previous matchup, is Oklahoma looking forward to making the trip to Alabama?

Well, at least Venables is when it comes to the history.

“Excited to go to Tuscaloosa? I’m a coach. I’m a loyalist, traditionalist,” Venables said during SEC Media Days last week. “So, I love that part of it. But I don’t love, there’ll be nothing loving about going to Bryant-Denny Stadium. I’ve been there before with Oklahoma, a long time ago in the early 2000s. But a beautiful venue. It’s gonna be a tremendous challenge.”

Building off on success has been a challenge for Venables during his tenure at Oklahoma. Following a 10 win season in 2023 the Sooners followed suite with a 6-6 regular season finish and a loss to Navy in the Armed Forces Bowl.

During the year, Oklahoma had been ranked as high as 15 in the AP poll but soon fizzled out in conference play. However, even with the steep fall in the dog days of the year Venables saw something in his team after defeating the Crimson Tide.

“But I think that game against Alabama, it showed a lot of different things to me,” Venables said. “It showed what we’re capable of when we get out of our way. It showed a team that believed in one another and certainly themselves and their coaches. And it showed a team that showed a lot of guts and toughness to do the really hard stuff, keep dragging yourself off the mat, claw your way back, figure it out, find a way, punch first, punch back, punch last, that type of a mentality, even when a lot of things aren’t going your way.”

Alabama will square off against Oklahoma on Nov. 15 inside Bryant-Denny Stadium.