Stormin in Norman
Fansided

Oklahoma Football Reigns Supreme in Big 12 Era

By Chip Rouse

Oct 8, 2016; Dallas, TX, USA; Oklahoma Sooners wide receiver Dahu Green (18) runs after catching a pass against Texas Longhorns cornerback Kris Boyd (2) in the third quarter at Cotton Bowl. Oklahoma won 45-40. Mandatory Credit: Tim Heitman-USA TODAY Sports
Oct 8, 2016; Dallas, TX, USA; Oklahoma Sooners wide receiver Dahu Green (18) runs after catching a pass against Texas Longhorns cornerback Kris Boyd (2) in the third quarter at Cotton Bowl. Oklahoma won 45-40. Mandatory Credit: Tim Heitman-USA TODAY Sports /
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Since Bob Stoops arrived in Norman to head the Oklahoma football program, mighty Texas has had three head coaches.

Oct 10, 2015; Dallas, TX, USA; Texas Longhorns head coach Charlie Strong prior to the game against the Oklahoma Sooners during Red River rivalry at Cotton Bowl Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Matthew Emmons-USA TODAY Sports
Oct 10, 2015; Dallas, TX, USA; Texas Longhorns head coach Charlie Strong prior to the game against the Oklahoma Sooners during Red River rivalry at Cotton Bowl Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Matthew Emmons-USA TODAY Sports /

While Oklahoma has prospered under Stoops, the Longhorn Nation has endured both good times and bad since becoming part of the Big 12, and right now the latter is almost more than Texas fans can stand.

On Saturday, Texas fired one coach (Charlie Strong) and hired another, the cause and effect of being the kingpin in the Big 12, moneywise, but failing to get a good enough return on the gridiron.

In three seasons at Texas – after replacing Mack Brown, who had a 16-year tour of duty with the Longhorns and won a national championship in 2005 – Strong had combined record of 16-21, the worst of any Texas head coach over a three-year span. Moreover, Strong was just 1-2 against Red River rival Oklahoma, although that one win, 24-17 last season over the then No. 10 Sooners, might have provided him a new lease on life in Austin had he not lost four of six conference games after that and six of nine against Big 12 teams this season.

Oklahoma and Texas have been the most successful football teams in the 21-year history of the Big 12 Conference, which is not that big of a surprise. The Sooners have the best winning percentage both in all games (200-70, .741) and in the conference (128-45, .740), but they actually trailed the Longhorns up until the last couple of seasons.

Oct 10, 2015; Dallas, TX, USA; Oklahoma Sooners head coach Bob Stoops prior to the game against the Texas Longhorns during the Red River rivalry at Cotton Bowl Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Matthew Emmons-USA TODAY Sports
Oct 10, 2015; Dallas, TX, USA; Oklahoma Sooners head coach Bob Stoops prior to the game against the Texas Longhorns during the Red River rivalry at Cotton Bowl Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Matthew Emmons-USA TODAY Sports /

Since Strong took over the head-coaching duties at Texas in 2013, the Longhorns have gone 16-21 in all games and are 12-15 in the Big 12. Over that same time frame, Oklahoma has a combined record of 28-9 overall and 21-5 against conference teams.

The Sooners are the only Big 12 team to have a winning percentage against every Big 12 team since the conference was formed in 1996, including a 12-9 record against archrival Texas (the Longhorns, however, lead the all-time series 61-45-5)

Brown and Stoops coached against each other for 15 seasons (1999-2013). Both Oklahoma (2000) and Texas (2005) won a national championship during that time frame, but Stoops and the Sooners won eight conference championships to two for the Longhorns under Brown.

Oklahoma won nine of the 15 matchups with Texas when Stoops and Brown were on the respective sidelines. Stoops now is 11-7 against Texas, the most wins over the Longhorns by any coach in OU football history.

Comparing the 15 seasons that Bob Stoops and Mack Brown coached against one another, Texas compiled an overall record of 158-47 (.771) and 98-33 in Big 12 games. Over that same span of time, Oklahoma was 179-52 (.794) overall and 112-29 (.775) in the Big 12.

With three Big 12 regular-season games still to be played, including Oklahoma hosting Oklahoma State, there is a sizeable divide between the top two teams (OU and Texas) and the next three teams (Kansas State, Oklahoma State and Texas Tech) in the all-time standings, and an even deeper divide those teams and the rest of the conference.

TCU and West Virginia, of course, have only been members of the Big 12 for five seasons, but they are closing ground fast on perennial Big 12 bottom feeders in football, Iowa State and Kansas, who have a 16-year head start on the Horned Frogs and the Mountaineers.

A win Saturday over Oklahoma State would be the Sooners 201st all-time victory as a member of the Big 12 and would give OU its 10 conference crown under Stoops. No other conference team has more than 186 wins overall.

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