Stormin in Norman
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Oklahoma football: Ranking the the Sooner teams of the past seven decades

By Chip Rouse

NORMAN, OK - OCTOBER 29: Oklahoma Sooners fans wait to enter the east side of the stadium before the game against the Kansas Jayhawks October 29, 2016 at Gaylord Family-Oklahoma Memorial Stadium in Norman, Oklahoma. (Photo by Brett Deering/Getty Images)
NORMAN, OK - OCTOBER 29: Oklahoma Sooners fans wait to enter the east side of the stadium before the game against the Kansas Jayhawks October 29, 2016 at Gaylord Family-Oklahoma Memorial Stadium in Norman, Oklahoma. (Photo by Brett Deering/Getty Images) /
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28 Oct 2000: (L-R) Former Head Coach Barry Switzer of the Oklahoma Sooners stands with the Former Head Coach Tom Osborne of the Nebraska Cornhuskers during the game at the Oklahoma Memorial Stadium in Norman, Oklahoma. The Sooners defeated the Cornhuskers 31-14.Mandatory Credit: Brian Bahr /Allsport
28 Oct 2000: (L-R) Former Head Coach Barry Switzer of the Oklahoma Sooners stands with the Former Head Coach Tom Osborne of the Nebraska Cornhuskers during the game at the Oklahoma Memorial Stadium in Norman, Oklahoma. The Sooners defeated the Cornhuskers 31-14.Mandatory Credit: Brian Bahr /Allsport /

#2 — 1970s Oklahoma Sooners football (102-13-3)

Oklahoma won more football games in the first decade under Bob Stoops, but the Sooners also lost 11 more games in the first decade of the 2000s than they did in the decade of the 1970s. The Sooners’ .877 winning percentage in 10 seasons under Chuck Fairbanks and Barry Switzer stands as second best of the 13 decades in OU’s illustrious football history.

The Sooners were Big Eight champions eight times in the 1970s, including every season from 1972 to 1979 and were national champions in 1974 and 1975.

Some of the greatest players in OU football history played during this decade. RB Billy Sims won the Heisman Trophy in 1978, at that time the third Sooner player to win the award, and was the Oklahoma career rushing leader until Samaje Perine established a new school record of 4,122 yards, four more than Sims.

Some of the other great names during this decade were running backs Greg Pruitt and Joe Washington, linebackers Rod Shoate, Daryl Hunt and George Cumby, defensive linemen Lucious, Lee Roy, Dewey Selmon and Jimbo Elrod and quarterbacks Jack Mildren and Steve Davis, Thomas Lott and J.C. Watts and center Tom Brahaney.

Rod Shoate is one of only two Sooner players all-time to be awarded All-America status for three consecutive seasons (1972-74).

A total of 67 Oklahoma players were selected in the NFL Draft during this decade, including seven first-round picks and 11 in the second round.

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