Stormin in Norman
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Oklahoma football: Sooners lead nation in Power 5 wins since 2000

By Chip Rouse

NEW ORLEANS, LA - JANUARY 02: Head coach Bob Stoops of the Oklahoma Sooners celebrates with his team and the winner's trophy after defeating the Alabama Crimson Tide 45-31 during the Allstate Sugar Bowl at the Mercedes-Benz Superdome on January 2, 2014 in New Orleans, Louisiana. (Photo by Kevin C. Cox/Getty Images)
NEW ORLEANS, LA - JANUARY 02: Head coach Bob Stoops of the Oklahoma Sooners celebrates with his team and the winner's trophy after defeating the Alabama Crimson Tide 45-31 during the Allstate Sugar Bowl at the Mercedes-Benz Superdome on January 2, 2014 in New Orleans, Louisiana. (Photo by Kevin C. Cox/Getty Images) /
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Since the 1950s, when Bud Wilkinson’s Oklahoma football teams dominated the college football landscape, the Sooners have been one of the winningest teams at the highest college level.

When Sooner fans think about the storied history of Oklahoma football, they think of it in terms of coaching eras. The Sooners are the only college team with four head coaches who won more than 100 games during their time on the OU sidelines.

During Wilkinson’s coaching cycle, the Sooners won an NCAA-record 47 consecutive games. That’s the equivalent of over four seasons of undefeated football. Barry Switzer did not lose his first game as Oklahoma head coach until his 30th game and he averaged 9.8 wins per season in his 16 years as head coach.

Oklahoma was the winningest team, based on winning percentage, in two different decades (1950s and 1970s). Since the 1946 season, no team in college football has more overall wins than Oklahoma’s 684, and no period in OU’s 127 seasons of organized football have the Sooners experienced more sustained success than in the first 21 seasons of the 21st century.

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The Sooners’ 239 wins and .818 winning percentage from 2000 through 2021 is among the very best in all of college football over that time span, but where Oklahoma separates itself from all the rest is in the number of wins over teams from Power 5 conferences.

According to the team at FOX College Sports, Oklahoma ranks No. 1 with 190 wins against Power 5 teams since the 2000 season. Ohio State is next with 182 Power 5 wins, followed by Georgia (172), Clemson (171) and Alabama (170).

The 2000s have been an extraordinarily successful time for Oklahoma football. The Sooners have only won one national championship during that time, but they’ve been close numerous times with four national championship game appearances during the BCS era and four appearances in the eight years of the College Football Playoff. In addition, four different Sooner players have been awarded the Heisman Trophy, two others were runners-up in the Heisman, and three OU quarterbacks have been selected No. 1 overall in the NFL Draft.

The 2022 season begins another new era in OU football history as former Sooner defensive coordinator and Clemson defensive mastermind Brent Venables moves into the head job replacing Lincoln Riley, both descendants of the Stoops coaching tree.

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