Prior to the 2023 season, Brent Venables assured Oklahoma football fans that the Sooner defense would be an improved version of its 2022 performance and that the team’s overall performance would be better.
Check, check on both accounts. While Sooner fans are obviously disappointed that the team will not play for the Big 12 Championship on Saturday, OU’s 10-2 record is nothing to sniff at.
It was Oklahoma’s 42nd 10-win season, which is second all-time only to Alabama. And the Sooners can make it 11 wins with a postseason bowl victory. The Sooner program has had 19 10-win seasons since 2000 and nine of at least 12 wins. It’s no wonder that expectations are so high for Oklahoma football every season.
Las Vegas oddsmakers as well as ESPN’s Football Power Index projected nine wins for the Sooners in 2023. That represented a three-win improvement over the 2022 season, and Venables and Company have exceeded that with a chance to improve on it by two.
Back in January, just days after the college football national championship game, Oklahoma was cracking the way-too-early top-25 projections for 2023, but just barely. The way-early 2023 rankings for OU ranged from 21 to 25. OU began picking up some steam between January and the post-spring practice season, advancing as high as No. 16 in the various preseason top-25 rankings.
The Sooners have exceeded the expectations of virtually every preseason prognosticator in terms of its standing nationally. The Sooners are ranked No. 12 in the College Football Playoff rankings, which is the same positioning given them by the media representatives who vote in the Associated Press poll as well as in the Coaches Poll. The USA Today Sports poll, which had OU 17th to begin the season, has the Sooners No. 11 in its regular-season ending top-25 rankings.
Oklahoma was picked to finish third behind Texas and Kansas State in the Big 12 Preseason Media Poll. The Sooners finished tied for second with Oklahoma State in the league standings, both with 7-2 records, but they own second place outright with a 10-2 overall record and were the only team to beat Texas in the regular season.
Checks across the board in terms of year-over-year comparisons, but also preseason projections.
The overall picture gets a definite thumbs up, but Venables will be the first to tell you that the Sooners still need to improve in practically every area as they now begin the transition to the even more competitive SEC starting next season.