Much at Stake in Oklahoma-Houston Season-Opening Showdown

Who knew back in September 2014, when the Oklahoma-Houston two-game football series was signed, sealed and soon to be delivered, that Saturday’s season-opening game would be a marquee matchup with important implications for both sides?

First of all, elite teams – which you would have to consider both OU and Houston, given that they are ranked in the nation’s top 25 to begin the 2016 season – very rarely schedule opening games against ranked opponents.

Generally speaking, teams prefer to have the opening game to work out some of the early season kinks, system adjustments and opening-game nerves and anticipated adrenalin spikes. It’s easier to work through all of that against an opponent that you don’t have to play at your very best in order to notch one in the win column.

The truth of the matter is, Oklahoma, in all of its storied history, has opened the season against a ranked team only eight other times. (More on this subject later this week.) If you’re wondering, the Sooners were just 4-4 in those games.

On Saturday, it will be No. 3 Oklahoma taking on the No. 15-ranked Houston Cougars, according to the Associated Press Preseason Top 25. A team from a Power Five conference vs. the highest ranked team from what they call the Group of Five, or five other FBS conferences considered to be a tier below the Power Five (Big 12, ACC, SEC, Big Ten and Pac-12).

This game strikes me as being very much what things were like when the Sooners were matched up against Boise State in the 2007 Fiesta Bowl. At the time, Boise was the class of the non-BCS-conference teams and in the ideal position to show the college football world it was every bit as good and capable of playing and beating the so-called big boys in the college games. Sooner fans don’t need to be reminded how that game turned out.

Houston finds itself in a similar position as Boise State was back then. The one big difference is: The 2016 Sooners are a much better team than the 2006 Oklahoma squad.

Although a loss this early in the season would not necessarily be fatal to Oklahoma’s aspiration of returning to the College Football Playoff, a victory over a very good Houston team would be looked upon very favorably when it comes time to analyzing the overall body of work of the contending teams for one of the four Playoff spots.

Besides the enormous thrill and pride of potentially beating a higher-ranked team, there is much at stake for Houston in Saturday’s game, as well.

More from OU Football

• Oklahoma football: Injury report includes pair of Sooner defenders out for season
• Oklahoma football: ESPN, USA Today bowl projections after Week 3
• Oklahoma football: Sooner ‘D’ grading well, but real test begins with Big 12 play
• Two Oklahoma football players receive Big 12 weekly honors
• Oklahoma football: Sooners’ stock rising fast in ESPN prospective rankings

The Cougars want to prove that they are worthy of a top-25 ranking to being the 2016 season and that last year’s 13-1 season and victory over Florida State in the Chick-Fil-A Bowl was not a fluke. Houston is also one of the schools considered by many to be on the short list for absorption into the Big 12 when that conference moves forward on expected expansion partners.

Although at least half of the Big 12 schools are not in favor of adding Houston because of perceived recruiting implications. Houston officials counter that the Big 12 is already losing potential recruits to the SEC because of the move by Texas A&M, and that the addition of the Cougars as a member of the Big 12 could help offset that.

The Cougars are fully aware that a win over one of the Big 12 giants would demonstrate they are worthy of competing with the best in the Big 12.

It’s a little unusual to see so much on the line in the first game of a 12-game regular-season schedule, but that is precisely what we have in Week 1 of the 2016 OU football season. Sooner fans would be well advised to take it one game at a time, because things are not expected to change all that much in five of Oklahoma’s first six games.

Mark down Oct. 15 on your calendar. That date not only marks the halfway point in the schedule, but also when we should have a pretty clear-cut idea of how good this Oklahoma team is and what the prize will look like at the end of the season.