With all that has been written and talked about regarding how difficult and demanding the Oklahoma football schedule is again this coming season, it's easy to overlook a few quirks in the schedule that actually break in the Sooners' favor.
Six of the Sooners' 12 regular-season games this fall are against teams ranked in the top-25 in most every post-spring preseason projection, and that doesn't include a game in early November at Tennessee.
To put that into perspective, beginning with the Red River Rivalry game with Texas on Oct. 11, six games into the season, six of the Sooners' final seven games are potentially against ranked teams, and the one that isn't is the one at Tennessee, one of the most difficult places to play in the country.
It's pretty much that way for every team in the SEC -- if you want to be the best, you've got to play (and beat) the best, right? With such a daunting conference schedule, it places a premium on taking care of business in the four games that make up the nonconference portion of the schedule. The issue in Oklahoma's case this coming season (as well as next season), is that one of those four nonconference opponents is Michigan.
Michigan coming to Norman is schedule break for Sooners
The iconic Michigan brand speaks for itself as one of the oldest and most successful in college football history. And let's not forget that the Wolverines are just two years removed from winning the national championship.
Oklahoma catches a schedule break in that Michigan comes to Norman this year for a marquee game on the second weekend of the season. This highly anticipated matchup is being billed by many as the most important game on the Sooners' schedule this coming season. If OU is able to come out on top in this one, it will set the tone and serve as a huge confidence builder in what we can expect to see from this 2025 Oklahoma team in the way of improvement.
Believe it or not, this will be only the second time Oklahoma and Michigan have played each other in football and the first time in the regular season. The two teams met in the 1976 Orange Bowl, with the Sooners winning 14-6.
Oklahoma plays four of its first five games in the friendly confines of Gaylord Family - Oklahoma Memorial Stadium, where Sooner teams have lost just 16 times in the 26 seasons since Bob Stoops arrived as head coach in 1999. The lone road contest is against Temple in Philadelphia on Sept. 13.
Being able to play four of the first five games at home will give the Sooners time to get more adjusted playing together and work out any executional issues before heading into the difficult conference schedule.
Kent State game falls in perfect place on schedule
The Sooners will host Kent State out of the Mid-American Conference on Oct. 4, the week before going to battle against Texas in the annual Red River Rivalry in the Cotton Bowl in Dallas. The significance of the Kent State game is its placement on the schedule.
For one thing, it comes after a bye week that follows the Sept. 20 home date with Auburn. Perhaps of even greater significance, though, is that Kent State was 0-12 last season and isn't expected to fare much better in the 2025 season. What that means is Oklahoma should be able to rest its starters for a good part of the second half, limiting the risk of injury to key personnel and resting them ahead of what is always a highly emotional and physical game against archrival Texas.
Sooners get crucial bye week ahead of difficult Alabama rematch
Circle the date Nov. 15 on the calendar. That is when Oklahoma plays Alabama in Tuscaloosa in what could be the Sooners' most difficult assignment of the season. You can bet that this game has been circled on the calendar in bold red ink since last November after Oklahoma's shocking 24-3 upset of the Crimson Tide last season. That loss to OU probably cost Alabama a spot in the College Football Playoff. I would expect the Crimson Tide and their fans to be loaded for bear when this game rolls around on the calendar.
You would expect Alabama to be favored in this game, especially playing at home, but there are a couple of quirks in the schedule that could work to the Sooners' advantage.
Oklahoma has a bye week and extra time to get healthy and prepare for the game at Alabama. The Sooners play at Tennessee on Nov. 1 and don't play for two weeks after that. While OU has the extra week off before the Alabama game, the Crimson Tide has to play LSU the week prior. That is sure to be a hard-fought game between the two longtime conference rivals, while Oklahoma will be resting comfortably at home, probably watching the game.
These are all intriguing schedule features to ponder, but at the end of the day, you still have to play the games. And at the end of the year, we'll tally up all the results and, hopefully, we'll see the improvement that most of us are expecting to see from Oklahoma Team 131, as head coach Brent Venables likes to refer to it.
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