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Oklahoma football: Sooners led Big 12 in more ways than one

By Chip Rouse

Dec 19, 2020; Arlington, Texas, USA; Oklahoma Sooners defensive lineman Isaiah Thomas (95) holds up the Big 12 championship trophy after the game against the Iowa State Cyclones at AT&T Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Tim Heitman-USA TODAY Sports
Dec 19, 2020; Arlington, Texas, USA; Oklahoma Sooners defensive lineman Isaiah Thomas (95) holds up the Big 12 championship trophy after the game against the Iowa State Cyclones at AT&T Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Tim Heitman-USA TODAY Sports /
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Oklahoma football championships continue to mount — except, of course, for that elusive eighth of the national variety.

When it comes to conference supremacy, though, no one does it better than the Sooners. And we mean that, literally. Oklahoma has won 50 conference championships in its 106-year history as a member of a conference. That is more than any other college team — four more than Nebraska (46), 11 more than Ohio State (39), 18 more than Alabama (32) and 24 more than Clemson (26).

All but two of Oklahoma’s conference titles have come in the Big 12 and all of its previous iterations. In the 25-year existence of the Big 12, the Sooners have won 14 championships. Thirteen of those have been outright and one was shared (with Kansas State in 2012).

Oklahoma not only won the 2020 league title on the field, beating an Iowa State making its first ever appearance in the Big 12 Championship, but proved to be a conference leader on paper for the season, as well.

The Sooners finished first or second as a team in 11 different Big 12 statistical categories.

The six-time defending Big 12 champions led the league in scoring offense (43.0 points a game), total offense (494.7 yards per game), passing offense (315.0 yards per game), passing efficiency offense (172.1), passing efficiency defense (112.9), field-goal percentage (22 of 28, .786), sacks by (37) and interceptions (16).

Oklahoma ranked second in the conference in two defensive categories: rushing defense (allowing 105.1 yards per game), third-down conversion defense (limiting opponents to 27.9 percent on third-down conversion attempts). The Sooners also held the dubious distinction of committing the second most penalties this past season. OU was flagged 798 times for an average of 72.5 yards per game.

Lincoln Riley has five Big 12 championships on his record, four as a head coach. That is as many as the years he has been on the OU coaching staff.

The numbers tell the story of Oklahoma’s 2020 Big 12 championship season.

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