Shortly after the Oklahoma Sooners' horrendous loss to LSU on Saturday night, SEC Network host Dari Nowkhah went on a rant blaming OU fans for the Sooners' recent struggles in men's basketball and other sports, not the coaches and players actually on the court or field.
Nowkhah, an Oklahoma native, didn't compete in a sport at OU, but he graduated from the university in 1998 with a degree in broadcast journalism. After a few stops at local TV stations, Nowkhah was eventually named lead anchor of SEC Network at the start of the network in 2014.
During the postgame show Saturday night, Nowkhah called out Sooner Nation and the atmosphere at Lloyd Noble Center during OU's 82-79 loss to LSU that extended a four-game losing streak.
Fans cannot be blamed for losing streaks, though. There's a man reportedly making $3.2 million this year who gets that blame.
"Let's be real here," Nowkhah said. "Fine, you want to take it as me calling out a fan base that I love, go ahead. These guys are walking into an arena that's half full. That is dead. It looks dead on television. I don't believe it's overly alive in person."
And Nowkhah didn't just have issues with the support of men's basketball. Overall, Nowkhah doesn't believe Sooner Nation is at the same level as the other fan bases throughout the SEC.
"You look around this league at basketball arenas, at baseball arenas, they're full," he said. "There's a level of passion there, and we are not seeing it -- we haven't seen it from the jump this season in Norman, Oklahoma. And that's disappointing. And I hope it changes and I hope it's better in baseball than it's been in basketball."
Oklahoma Alum Dari Nowkhah goes on an epic rant about the Oklahoma fanbase: pic.twitter.com/aLp6WONizn
— Travis J Davidson (@TravisSkol) February 16, 2025
After Nowkhah's rant was shared on social media, he again double-downed on his thoughts.
I know the team isn't very good. But we're in a different league now... one where fans SHOW THE HELL UP, even if teams aren't winning titles.
— Dari Nowkhah (@ESPNDari) February 16, 2025
This week, S. Carolina (0-10 at the time) played Ole Miss in front of a LOUD, ROWDY home crowd.
OUrs? Nope.
Baseball? Just wait. https://t.co/sOgh7GFaIy
This seems to be a chicken or the egg scenario. Do great fan bases breed successful programs, or do successful programs create excited fan bases?
Duke, Kansas and North Carolina are all famous for spectacular basketball atmospheres. All, traditionally, have stellar men's basketball programs. All also have lackluster environments for other sports they struggle in. It seems the success drives the fan base there.
The Sooners have storied football and softball programs. Even during a 6-7 season, Gaylord Family - Oklahoma Memorial Stadium was still sold out every home game. The softball program last year debuted the largest on-campus softball stadium in the country and housed 86,581 fans during the regular season, which was a program record.
Again, success also attracted fans in Norman, Oklahoma.
To be transparent, I'm on the fans' side here. I believe every fan works hard for their money and their time is valuable. How both are spent needs to be worth it.
It's the job of the coaching staff, and also the players now, to make sure they create a good product. Good business reaps success. Business is booming for Patty Gasso, and she's been rewarded with record support and brand new facilities.
Money also talks. If Sooner Nation isn't satisfied with a mediocre men's basketball program and won't show up to watch it, then OU can't afford to settle and is forced to change.
Sports is the biggest business in the world, and in no other businness are consumers expected to pay for crappy products no matter what.
If you build a good team, they will come.