Oklahoma football: Five bold predictions for 2017
By Chip Rouse
First-year head coach Lincoln Riley will get started on the right foot with rivalry wins over Texas and Oklahoma State
The bar is set high at Oklahoma, where winning football seasons are considered the norm and not the exception. More is better when it comes to Sooner football wins, but not all wins are considered equal.
Head coaches at Oklahoma, like at most all college programs, are measured first on wins and losses, but in Norman victories in rivalry games are held even higher.
The Sooners play two giant rivalry games every season: the Red River Shootout against Texas in Dallas and Bedlam with Oklahoma State. And in the old Big Eight Days, you could add Nebraska to that list, which will be revived in 2021-22.
Bob Stoops was 11-7 against the Texas Longhorns. Stoops and Bud Wilkinson (9-8) are the only two Sooner head coaches who coached in at least 10 games against the Longhorns and own a winning record in the rivalry (Barry Switzer was 8-8).
This will be Lincoln Riley’s first season leading the Sooners against their two oldest rivals, although he is a perfect 2-0 against Oklahoma State and 1-1 against Texas while serving as the Oklahoma offensive coordinator the past two seasons.
Texas has a new head coach as well in 2017, Tom Herman, which should help even the score a little with both sidelines featuring new head men holding the reins. Against Oklahoma State, the Sooners have a dominant 86-18-7 advantage in 111 total games between the two in-state rivals, including wins in 12 of the last 14 games. Additionally, OU has come out on top in six of the last seven played in Stillwater, which is where this year’s game will be played.
I like Riley’s chances in both of these games, which come up on Oct. 14 (Texas) and Nov. 4 (Oklahoma State) on the schedule. A twin killing would definitely get the new Sooner head coach off on the right foot.