Oklahoma football: Something you may not know but should

The combination of winning tradition and national notoriety is something that has long been synonymous with Oklahoma football.

The Sooners have a rich tradition and enough hardware and national accolades to lay claim to being one of the best college football programs of all-time — certainly one of the top five over the past 60-plus years.

These days, Alabama and Ohio State and the teams of the Southeastern Conference and Big Ten seem to command much more of the college football headlines and sports-talk conversation than the Sooners. It’s not that Sooner football is in decline — quite the opposite with 183 wins and 10 Big 12 championships to their credit in the past 17 seasons — but the conference it represents, the Big !2, appears to be trending in that direction, with many of the so-called experts questioning the conference’s long-term survivability.

The future of the Big 12 Conference is a topic of debate for another time, but the strength and sustained success of Oklahoma football — past, present and foreseeable future — is undeniable.

Oklahoma Sooners Football

Oklahoma’s all-time record in football of 872-321-53 ranks eight nationally in total wins, primarily because the Sooners have not played as many games or been around as long of most of the schools that rank ahead of them. In terms of winning percentage, however, OU’s win percentage of .721 is better than all but four schools (Michigan, .731; Ohio State and Notre Dame, .724; and Texas, .723) in the FBS (Football Bowl Subdivision), formerly NCAA Division I.

Here’s even better news giving Sooner fans reason to boast Oklahoma football’s place as one of the truly great college programs of all-time:

• Since 1946, the end of World War II and considered the modern era of college football), no team has won more games than the Oklahoma Sooners. During that time span and through the 2016 season, OU has won 628 games. According to information provided by the Oklahoma athletic department and published in the 2016 OU Football Media Guide, the Sooners’ 617 wins since 1946 are 45 more than Ohio State 583), 46 more than Alabama (582), 47 more than Penn State (581), 48 more than Nebraska (580). Texas is OU’s biggest challenger from the Big 12 with 572 wins over the last 61 seasons, 56 fewer than their Red River rivals to the north.
• No team in major college football (NCAA Division I) has accumulated more 11-win seasons in its history than the University of Oklahoma. The Sooners also lead the nation with 37 10-win seasons all-time. That is one more than Alabama, which has 36 10-win seasons. Fourteen of the Sooners’ 10-win campaigns have come in the past 17 seasons under head coach Bob Stoops.