Conversations of Oklahoma as a national contender in 2026 are better late than never

At the end of the 2025 season and into spring camps, it seemed most of the country had forgotten Oklahoma. The team that finished 10-2 and hosted a home playoff game, all the while putting up horrendous numbers on offense following the injury to quarterback John Mateer.

Early-season performances were discarded, and the results were all chalked up to defensive prowess and clutch special teams performances. Despite the young offensive line all returning for another season, a healthy Mateer coming back and impactful transfer acquisitions spearheaded by general manager Jim Nagy, Oklahoma was left out of national competitor conversations throughout the long, dreadful march of the offseason. 

Now, as the season approaches and fall camps conclude, there are folks beginning to realize what most Sooner fans have known since the spring: The Oklahoma Sooners are going to be national championship contenders.

J.D. PicKell and Brandon Walker among few considering OU as serious national title threat

J.D. PicKell, national college football analyst for On3, sat down with multiple Sooners at SEC Media Days before making his preseason predictions on his podcast, The Hard Count. PicKell predicts Oklahoma to go 11-1 in the regular season, with its only loss being against Georgia in Athens. In an earlier Instagram post, PicKell said, “I’m going down with the ship here. I think Oklahoma is going to be a wagon once again. I think the national narrative on them is WAY out of touch.”

Brandon Walker of Barstool Sports fame recently relaunched his own college football podcast, The Brandon Walker College Football Show. He is known for his divisive takes, but the man watches and analyzes a lot of college football. In the first episode, he welcomed guest Josh Pate to talk about a variety of college football topics, one of which was national title contenders. They discussed the usual suspects until Walker said he believes Oklahoma is in the conversation.

“I think Oklahoma, with the quarterback, (Isaiah) Sategna, running back I’d like to see a little more explosiveness but…it’s good enough. Defensive line is going to be elite, defense is going to be elite. Venables might be a breakthrough guy," Walker said.

Both PicKell and Walker have large followings on social media and their podcasts, but you wouldn’t consider either of them part of the established sports media. As the season nears, the conversations around Oklahoma are shifting. All of this up to this point is guessing, predictions and speculation on how the season might pan out for Oklahoma.

One thing is certain: if the results on the field begin to show Oklahoma is a top team in the country, the articles and talking points from the big guns in sports will begin to change. The ball has been set into motion in the preseason, just like how coaches will say the season starts in the spring. Last year, Venables said Oklahoma was “Hard To Kill”. This year, they may be more than just resilient; they may be impenetrable.

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