There have been times through the years, more often than not, that the Oklahoma Sooners were appointment television for college football fans, but at this point in 2026, they’re nearly unwatchable, even for some of Sooner Nation.
The Sooners are no longer worthy of the grand stage and have been relegated to an SEC sideshow during their struggles, especially on offense. The SEC announced this week that OU’s matchup against South Carolina on Oct. 31 will be a matinee on SEC Network at 3:15 p.m. CT. The game will be over before Trick-or-Treaters are even at your door.
It will be the third weekend in a row that the Sooners will be on the SEC Network, instead of an ESPN channel or even ABC, with the most eyes. But this is what happens when you barely give your own fans a reason to watch, let alone college football onlookers.
Sooners will become mainstays on SEC Network without a reason to watch
The Sooners will play Mississippi State at 2:30 p.m. CT on Saturday on the SEC Network. Those making the decisions actually held off on designating this matchup for a channel and gave the teams a chance to earn a bigger spotlight.
The afternoon kickoff time was announced last week, but the channel was still to be determined between ESPN and SEC Network. But then both teams lost on Saturday, and the next day, the matchup was set for SEC Network. No. 11 Tennessee at South Carolina will be on ESPN during that afternoon slot instead.
The Sooners lost to then-No. 15 Kentucky 21-13 on Saturday after quarterback John Mateer threw interceptions on their final two drives to ultimately seal the deficit. A win would have notched OU's back-to-back top-15 upsets, immediately catapulting the Sooners back into national rankings as College Football Playoff contenders.
Instead, the Sooners, at 3-3, have next to no chance of returning to the CFP and are now more concerned about just making a bowl game, which will also barely be worth the time to watch.
Mississippi State also lost last week, 31-0 to LSU. The loss dropped Mississippi State out of the top 25 at 4-2
The Bulldogs were without starting quarterback Kamario Taylor, who could be out again against OU. No Taylor means no star power for the unranked matchup. Sure, the Sooners are loaded on defense, but offense is really what captivates an audience.
South Carolina is also down bad at 3-3, but the Gamecocks just upset No. 16 Florida 38-19 before their bye week. They’ll likely re-enter the loss column this weekend against No. 11 Tennessee.
Looking beyond South Carolina, with matchups against Florida, Ole Miss, Texas A&M, and Missouri, the Sooners will likely become main characters on SEC Network and go all season without being featured on ESPN College GameDay, which was in Norman twice last year.
This might seem like a quibble that doesn’t matter, but it’s another example of the low standards that have been set at a blue blood like Oklahoma under Brent Venables.
Unlike international soccer, there is no real relegation in American football, but what channel a team plays on is the closest thing to relegation in college football, revealing how much a program actually matters in the grand scheme of things.
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