Oklahoma football ranks in top 5 of ‘most improved’ in 2023, says 247Sports

One season should not a career make, and that’s why it’s too soon to right off Oklahoma football head coach Brent Venables and judge if he was the right choice for the job.

Yes, it was Venables who presided over Oklahoma’s worst season — and its first losing one — since 1998. The Sooners’ finished a highly disappointing 6-7 overall in 2022 and were just 3-6 against Big 12 opponents. But as it also has been pointed out ad infinitum over the last six months, four of those loses were by just three points.

What that amounts to is OU had made one or two more plays on offense or if the Sooners had gotten another break or two on defense in any or all of those three-point losses, the outcome of the game(s) and the season might have been much different.

Several national media sources have projected Oklahoma as one of the most-improved teams heading into the 2023 season.

Former Oklahoma head coach Bob Stoops, in an interview recently, reminded fans that in the Sooners’ national championship season in 2000, the Sooners won three games by just one score and two more by 11 or fewer points. The ball is not of symmetrical proportion, which is why it bounces in funny often unpredictable ways — sometimes the bounce is in your favor, other times not.

With six starters returning on defense and with a year of experience under their belt in Venables’ defensive system, coupled with the defensive talent the Sooners have added in the 2023 recruiting class and through the transfer portal, there is every reason to expect the Oklahoma defense to be better this season. Venables is practically guaranteeing an improved defensive performance.

Assuming that the Oklahoma offense continues to operate at a high level and put up 30 or more points a game, a talent infusion of impactful players at all levels of the defense and the ability to put pressure on the quarterback and get off the field on third down with greater efficiency, as many as 10 wins in the coming season, as Venables predicted, is entirely reasonable.

We should have a very good idea six games into the 2023 season and after OU has faced its first three Big 12 opponents, including conference favorite Texas, what kind of defensive improvement we are looking at and what we might expect over the rest of the schedule.

Multiple major media sources are projecting a bounce-back season for Oklahoma football, maybe not to the national championship level but certainly within the Big 12 and as compared to the previous season.

In his eponymous 2023 College Football Preview, renowned college football analyst Phil Steele ranked the Sooners as the second most-improved team for 2023 behind only Texas A&M.

This past week, the college football staff at 247Sports named Oklahoma one of the top five “most improved” college teams for the 2023 season. The Sooners were ranked No. 4 behind No. 1 Texas A&M, Miami (Florida), and Wisconsin. The staff at 247Sports had this to say about OU chances to turn things around this season:

"“The Sooners are coming off of their worst season in 25 years, but with each of their final four losses coming by exactly three points, they were well within striking distance of tacking on a few more victories. If those close games break their way in 2023, Venables’ first year at the helm will look like nothing but a blip on the radar.”"

It all gets underway for real 55 days from now.