Going into the 2024 season, college football in Oklahoma is going to look quite different.
Oklahoma embraces their new conference, the SEC, and Oklahoma State plays in a new look Big 12.
Meaning for the first time since 1910, there won’t be a Bedlam football game. The two instate rivals are forever tied together, but this season they’ll be on completely separate paths.
How will those paths play out though? Can Oklahoma be a top program in the SEC?
Can Oklahoma State stake their claim as the top dog in the new Big 12?
I confidently believe the Cowboys have a better shot at making their conference championship and potentially even the college football playoff with the new 12 team format.
That is of course relying on the fact they are returning 21 starters from a 10 win team in 2023, including the nation’s leading rusher Ollie Gordon II. Still that team had deficiencies.
They were exposed early on with a loss to South Alabama and Iowa State, and then found an identity, winning five straight including Bedlam.
Then the next week they were blown out 45-3 at UCF. Though they responded and made the Big 12 championship game, the Pokes will need consistency to be an elite team.
Key players Brennan Presley, Collin Oliver and Nick Martin will drive that success, but Mike Gundy has to capitalize on the opportunity for his program to reach a new level.
Meanwhile, the Sooners are returning 13 starters themselves following a 10 win season as well.
On top of that, they add the talent of the 2024 recruiting class that ranked 8th in the country with one five star and 18 four star recruits.
All-American linebacker Danny Stutsman and All-Big 12 safety Billy Bowman Jr. return to lead the defense, while former five star quarterback Jackson Arnold is entering his first year as a full time starter.
The Sooners should have defensive strength and plenty of talent, but I don’t love a young quarterback having to play his first year in the SEC.
Especially after a season where they lost to three teams that were good but not great.
It’ll be tricky in such a tough conference, but with Brent Venables’ coaching ability, OU should be competitive in its first year.
Oklahoma has a path to the playoff through either the SEC championship or making it in as one of the seven teams who didn’t win their conference.
That path includes Alabama, Ole Miss, LSU, Missouri, Tennessee, Auburn and of course, Texas.
I’d predict an 8-4 season for the Sooners due to such an adverse schedule, but they could certainly defy the odds and be elite.
For OSU, I’d predict a 10-2 record and a conference championship trip because of their schedule compared to the other top Big 12 schools.
Keep in mind though, they still face Utah and Kansas State, along with other trap games such as Arkansas, Texas Tech, Colorado and West Virginia.
They have a favorable schedule to birth a playoff trip, but it’s completely possible for them to underachieve with mediocrity.
For both teams I could be completely wrong, better or worse, because who really knows? It’s college football, no one does.
But what we do know is that this year of newness for the Sooners and Cowboys will be fun to watch unfold.