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Oklahoma football: The 10 best teams of the Wilkinson-Switzer-Stoops eras

By Chip Rouse

NORMAN, OK - NOVEMBER 11: The Oklahoma Sooners take the field before the game against the TCU Horned Frogs at Gaylord Family Oklahoma Memorial Stadium on November 11, 2017 in Norman, Oklahoma. Oklahoma defeated TCU 38-20. (Photo by Brett Deering/Getty Images) *** Local Caption ***
NORMAN, OK - NOVEMBER 11: The Oklahoma Sooners take the field before the game against the TCU Horned Frogs at Gaylord Family Oklahoma Memorial Stadium on November 11, 2017 in Norman, Oklahoma. Oklahoma defeated TCU 38-20. (Photo by Brett Deering/Getty Images) *** Local Caption *** /
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NEW ORLEANS, LA – JANUARY 02: Baker Mayfield
NEW ORLEANS, LA – JANUARY 02: Baker Mayfield /

No. 2 — 1973 Oklahoma Sooners (10-0-1, 7-0), Big Eight champions

The 1973 season was Oklahoma’s inaugural season under new head coach Barry Switzer, who took over for Chuck Fairbanks when Fairbanks accepted the head-coaching job for the NFL New England Patriots.

Switzer may have been new to the head coaches job at OU, but he was a known quantity within the Sooner program after serving for seven seasons as offensive coordinator.

Oklahoma had finished in the top-five in the final college football rankings the two previous seasons, and was facing a schedule in 1973 that was one of the most difficult in the country.

The Sooners began the season with a convincing 42-14 win over Baylor before two weeks later heading to the West Coast to take on No. 1 USC. No. 8 Oklahoma and No. 1 USC battled to a 7-7 tie. That hard-earned tie, on the road against the nation’s top-ranked team, set the tone for the rest of the season.

In all, Oklahoma faced seven ranked opponents in the 1973 season (No. 1 USC, No. 17 Miami, No. 13 Texas, No. 10 Colorado, No. 10 Missouri, No. 18 Kansas and No. 10 Nebraska), defeating six of the seven by an average margin of 25.3 points.

Joe Washington led the OU rushing attack with 1,173 yards and nearly seven yards per carry, and quarterback Steve Davis led the team in scoring with 108 points. The Oklahoma defense, led by Lee Roy, Lucious and Dewey Selmon, was one of the best in the country.

This was the first of eight consecutive Big Eight championships won under Switzer. Prior to the start of the 1973 season, the Sooners were placed on NCAA probation for recruiting violations committed in previous seasons.

Many college football experts consider the 1973 Oklahoma team the Sooners’ best of all-time. OU finished the 1973 season ranked No. 3 in the Associated Press poll.

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