Worst Oklahoma football loss ever? If not, it’s very close

It wasn’t the first Oklahoma football loss, nor will it be the last, but the way and the why of how the Sooners lost over the weekend to Iowa State wil go down as far more than just a bad loss.

The Sooners have experienced plenty of so-called bad losses over the years, but the debacle on Saturday may just be the worst of the worst.

Oklahoma was a 31-point favorite on Saturday. According to ESPN Stats & Info, that projected margin of victory favoring the Sooners represents the biggest spread in any upset loss Oklahoma has experienced over the last 40 seasons.

Not only were the Sooners facing an opponent in Iowa State that had beaten Oklahoma just once in the last 47 meetings, including 18 consecutive losses, but Iowa State was without its starting quarterback on Saturday and were going with a walk-on, third-string quarterback who had completed just two passes in his college career.

You would have been a fool to bet against the Sooners in their game hosting Iowa State, even straight up, given all the available information going in. On the other hand, there was money to be made for anyone crazy enough to take Iowa State and the points. Heck, Iowa State straight up would have delivered an even bigger payoff.

Based on point spreads alone, the Iowa State loss stands by itself as the worst of Oklahoma’s unexpected losses going back to 1977. The three that rank just under Saturday’s stunner have all come within the last 16 seasons.

You wouldn’t know it by looking at the overall record, but that was during the Bob Stoops coaching era and, surprisingly, all three were Oklahoma home games, a place where the Sooners have lost just 10 times in the last 113 games over 19 seasons.

Here are some more heartbreaking, unexpected losses handed to highly ranked Oklahoma Sooner football teams — backbreaking defeats that might have happened maybe once if played over 10 consecutive iterations.