Bob Stoops takes exception to comparing OU’s future to Nebraska’s Big Ten fate

Numerous members of the media have been highly critical of the Oklahoma football move to the SEC, pointing out that the Sooners are moving from a conference they have dominated for years to one in which they might just find themselves mired in the middle of the pack and with wins a lot more difficult to come by.

That supposition is partially supported by the blowout losses suffered by the Sooners to SEC teams Alabama and LSU in OU’s last two College Football Playoff appearances.

Historically, Oklahoma has a record of 15-10-2 in all-time games against teams from the SEC, including winning records over Alabama, Auburn and Tennessee.

There is little question that life in the SEC in football will be much different for Oklahoma. Wins might not be as easy to pile up, but there clearly benefits in the form of greater revenue distribution and even higher national exposure because of the prominence of SEC football.

There are still skeptics who like to think that what has happened to Nebraska, primarily in football but also in other sports, after he left the Big 12 for residence in the Big Ten could be what is waiting for Oklahoma as a member of the SEC.

Nebraska was once a perennial national football powerhouse and, along with the Sooners dominated the Big 12 and its previous iterations from the 1950s into the 2000s. OU and Nebraska have combined for 98 conference championships (50 for OU and 48 for Nebraska), the most of any other college team. Although, the Cornhuskers power status in football was on the decline in their final seasons in the Big 12, it has descended even more precipitously as a member of the Big Ten.

FOX Sports radio host Colin Cowherd, who, as a matter of full disclosure, has never been an advocate of Oklahoma football, believes the Sooners may be headed down that same road. He bases that opinion on the notion that the state of Oklahoma, like Nebraska, is not a national hotbed for recruiting talent and that with Brent Venables, the Sooners did not hire the right head coach.

Former Oklahoma head coach Bob Stoops thinks that’s a ridiculous comparison made by someone who doesn’t have his facts straight and really doesn’t know what he’s talking about. The Sooners’ winningest head coach voiced that rebuttal in a recent interview this week on Norman radio station 1400 The Ref.

Here is an excerpt about what Stoops had to say about such a comparison”

"“Those people aren’t thinking properly…(From a recruiting perspective) we’re not just in Oklahoma. We only sign three or four guys (from the state).“All the way down into Dallas is home territory for us as much as it is for anybody else, and that what they’re not taking into account. Nebraska geographically is removed a good way from any real strong fertile recruiting area; we’re not. That’s a big difference.“We fit into the SEC perfectly, and I believe it is going to help us recruit and I believe we’ll handle it just fine.“It’s the offseason and they’re just filling up air time.”"

If you look at Oklahoma’s roster over the years, Sooner coaches, including Stoops and into the Venables head-coaching era, OU has regularly recruited and signed players at a national level, bringing in players from California, Florida and other talent-rich parts of the country, including Texas. There is no reason to believe that will stop as a member of the SEC. If anything, the footprint will get larger.