Oklahoma football: Where does OU rank among best college teams of every decade?

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Oct 1981; Unknown Location; FILE PHOTO; Oklahoma Sooners head coach Barry Switzer during a 1981 sideline interview with an unidentified ABC sideline reporter. Mandatory Credit: Photo By Malcolm Emmons-USA TODAY Sports Copyright (c) Malcolm Emmons /

Barry Switzer and the Oklahoma teams of the1970s

Barry Switzer, who didn’t lose his first game as Oklahoma head coach until the 30th game, led the Sooners back into the national spotlight. In seven 1970’s seasons, Switzer’s OU teams were 73-6-1, including two national championships.

Connelly ranked the 1974 OU national championship team as the second-best of the decade behind 1971 Nebraska (the Game of the Century year in which the Sooners were No. 2 in the final Associated Press poll). But overall, Oklahoma (eight top fives, two No. 1s) ranked fourth for the entire decade behind No. 1 Alabama (nine top fives, two No. 1s), Nebraska (seven top fives, three No. 1s) and Michigan (four top fives).

Connelly’s 1970s rankings also had the Sooners’ 1971, 1978 (with Heisman winner Billy Sims) and 1974 teams as the second, third and fifth-best offenses of the 1970s.

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