Oklahoma Football Will Have to Win on Road to Repeat as Champions in 2017

Oklahoma football historically has been one of the toughest teams in the country to beat at home when the Sooners play in the comfort and crowd-friendly confines of Gaylord Family-OU Memorial Stadium, more affectionately referred to simply as Owen Field.

The Sooners have lost just nine times at home in 18 seasons and 102 games under head coach Bob Stoops. And all 102 have been sellouts.

Oklahoma’s 2017 schedule includes six more games at home, five true road contests and the annual Red River Showdown with Texas on a neutral field (the Cotton Bowl in Dallas). It doesn’t take a very long look at next season’s slate to conclude if the Sooners are going to repeat as Big 12 champions for the third year in a row and the11th time under Stoops, they are going to have to be successful away from home.

Oklahoma is a perfect 9-0 in true road games the last two seasons and 60-21 (.753) in Stoops’ 18 seasons in Norman. So there is a history of road success at Oklahoma, but in 2017, road wins will be at a premium and could easily determine whether the Sooners win a Big 12 championship.

In the annual rivalry game with Texas, OU is 11-7 with Stoops on the sidelines, including victories in five of the last seven seasons.

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The Sooners do face TCU in Norman next season, but besides that game, Oklahoma should have relatively little trouble at home in October with Iowa State and Texas Tech. West Virginia will test the Sooners in Norman in the regular-season finale, on the last Saturday in November this season.

The games on the road for the Sooners next season are far more daunting. On the second weekend of the season, Oklahoma travels to Columbus, Ohio, for the second game in their two-game home and home series in 2016-17. The Buckeyes are sure to be ranked in the top 10 in the country when OU travels there, and likely will be among the top-five teams in the nation.

Last September in Norman, the Sooners proved to be no contest for the highly talented Ohio State team, losing 45-24 as the Buckeyes rolled up over 300 yards on the ground.

OU also travels to Waco in late Sept to take on the Baylor Bears and new head coach Matt Rhule, formerly the head man at Temple.

Perhaps the Sooners’ toughest two road tests will come Oct. 21 at Kansas State, the week after the Texas game, and on Nov. 4 in a Bedlam matchup with in-state rival Oklahoma State. The one good thing about having to go on the road to face those two formidable Big 12 opponents is how dominant OU has been in the all-time series with Kansas State and Oklahoma State.

Oklahoma is 74-19-4 all-time against Kansas State, including victories the last two times the Sooners have traveled to Manhattan. The Sooners have been equally dominant in their historical football rivalry with Oklahoma State.

Any way you look at it, the road to the Big 12 football championship in 2017 runs away from Norman, as far as Oklahoma is concerned. Which means, of course, that the Sooners will have to go out and seize the opportunity and prove they are worthy champions the hard way: by beating good teams on the road.