Being an Oklahoma football fan is not a seasonal avocation. It’s a process that hits its peak amplitude and attitude in the fall but has a runway that builds momentum throughout the year leading up to takeoff.
There are plenty of offseason events — which in and of itself is a bit of an oxymoron because for the truly invested college football fan there is plenty going on year around to keep your interest up and anticipation for when the games again become real.
For one thing, there is a perpetual recruiting cycle — the lifeblood of the game — that seemingly never ends and these days covers not only the most immediate graduating high school and junior-college class but the next couple to follow, and now there is also the transfer portal super highway and the monetary lure of Name, Image and Likeness that has forever changed the nature of college recruiting.
Within hours after the final gun sounds in the College Football Playoff championship game effectively ending the college season, the way-too-early top-25 forecasts start flooding the media marketplace, advising us what we can expect some eight months out. That’s also when the transfer portal starts to heat up, casting further uncertainty on a moving target and resulting in welcome additions to coaches on the receiving end while leaving those on the other end of the continuum to make roster adjustments.
“The OU defense will be better because it can’t help but be under Brent Venables.” —Dennis Dodd of CBS Sports
March and April bring spring practice sessions and the first glimpse into the coming season, still four to five months out. That’s when the college football prognosticators and pundits go back to the drawing board for course corrections and what they like to call post-spring top-25 projections.
While a couple of the post-spring top-25 forecasts are still a bit uncertain about the Sooners’ top-25 positioning come the fall given first-time head coach Brent Venables and some key departures on both sides of the ball, a couple of other key national media outlets are bullish on how good Oklahoma will be in the coming season.
In the past few days, both CBS Sports and USA Today Sports have published post-spring Top-25 rankings for the 2022 college football season. Wait for it…Oklahoma ranks No. 4 in both polls. This is relatively unchanged, by the way, from the way-too-early 2022 Top 25 projections issued by both national media outlets back in January. CBS Sports had the Sooners No, 4 back in January, but OU moved up from No. 5 to No. 4 in the USA Today post-spring 2022 college football Top 25.
The top three teams remained unchanged in the top-25 updates released by CBS Sports and USA Today. Alabama and Ohio State are heavy favorites as the top three teams heading into the 2022 season.
In justifying Oklahoma’s placement at No. 4, CBS Sports staff writer Dennis Dodd said there should be little drop off offensively with plug-and-play quarterback Dillon Gabriel and all the weapons he will have around him, and you have to believe that the much-maligned Sooner defense will be better with Venables at the helm.
"“Brent Venables has never been a head coach, but Lincoln Riley left quite a cupboard,” Dodds said. The OU defense will be better because it can’t help but be under Venables (and what he described as a veteran, experienced coaching staff). These are transition years with one foot in the SEC and another trying to kick Big 12 butts.“UCF transfer Dillon Gabriel gives Venables a plug-and-play quarterback. The running back position is deep.”"