Colin Cowherd admits he was completely wrong about Oklahoma as an SEC team

Oklahoma fans have to give credit to longtime sports personality Colin Cowherd, because unlike most in his position, he at least admitted he was wrong. 

The Sooners have been one of the biggest surprises in college football this year at 8-2 and right in the middle of the College Football Playoff picture as the No. 8 team in the country in the CFP rankings. Very few projected the Sooners to be in this position, or even find much success at all after joining the SEC, especially after going 6-7 in Year 1. Cowherd was part of the majority that predicted a downfall in Oklahoma after the Sooners left the Big 12 for the SEC.

Colin Cowherd discusses Sooners' rise with Josh Pate

Cowherd this week had college football expert Josh Pate on his podcast, “The Colin Cowherd Podcast,” which he does on top of his daily radio show covering all sports. Cowherd admitted to Pate, and essentially to Sooner Nation, that he has been completely wrong about OU, even before 2025. 

"I am shocked at how good Oklahoma is doing," Cowherd said.

Cowherd listed three reasons why he never expected the Sooners to rise as an SEC team. First, he doubted Brent Venables as a head coach after being a longtime defensive coordinator. In Year 4 at the helm, it's clear Venables knows what he's doing and should be a candidate for Coach of the Year.

Second, Cowherd said the state of Oklahoma doesn't produce a lot of talent, which would hurt OU in recruiting. Obviously the Sooners bring in players from around the country, but David Stone, Robert Spears-Jennings, Kendal Daniels, Gentry Williams and Owen Heinecke are all homegrown talents that start on Venables' elite defense.

Cowherd lastly mentioned Lincoln Riley's departure. He didn't believe the Sooners could still succeed without Riley's offensive system in today's college football. However, the Sooners are now playoff contenders because of their top-10 defense under Venables after years of having zero defense under Riley.

"Of all the teams that joined conferences, my bad," Cowherd said. "Oklahoma looks and plays, Josh, like an SEC team. If you didn't know, you'd think they'd been there for 20 years."