The Oklahoma Sooners' 2026-27 nonconference schedule is starting to take shape, and it certainly won't do any favors to those already embarrassing attendance numbers.
Between multiple reports this week, it's been revealed the Sooners so far have scheduled North Florida and Fairleigh Dickinson for home nonconference games at Lloyd Noble Center next college basketball season. The two mid-major programs were a combined 18-46 this past season.
Sooners have laughable start to 2026-27 season that won't fix attendance issues
There's no known date for Fairleigh Dickinson yet, but the Knights went 11-21 last season with a nonconference schedule that included trips to Texas, Iowa State and Minnesota.
The Sooners will host North Florida on Monday, Nov. 9, according to Made For March. North Florida went 7-25 last season. To the save the Sooners some face, it's worth mentioning Florida, Tennessee, Gonzaga and Miami (FL) all played North Florida last year as a tune-up game, but none of those programs are desperate to get fans in the stands.
OU just ranked last in home attendance in the SEC for the second season in a row. In 2024-25, the average attendance at Lloyd Noble Center was 6,945.06, and that number dipped even more last season to 6,301.25.
Winning would definitely draw a bigger crowd, but so would marquee nonconference matchups early in the season before fans lose all hope during SEC play. Watching the Sooners beat up on the likes of North Florida or Fairleigh Dickinson is not worth the price of admission.
Last season, the Sooners' nonconference slate included Gonzaga, Nebraska, Marquette, Wake Forest, Arizona State and Oklahoma State, but none of those big-time matchups were in Norman. Bedlam was at least down the road at Paycom Center in Oklahoma City, but a renewed rivalry against Nebraska was all the way in Sioux Falls, South Dakota.
The most anticipated nonconference opponent the Sooners had at home was Oral Roberts. The season before that, the best fans got was Georgia Tech as part of the SEC/ACC Challenge, but that was the only nonconference Power Four opponent that visited Norman in 2024-25.
It might not be fair to judge the Sooners' entire nonconference schedule off of two games, but the early preview and last year's slate won't have fans planning any trips to Lloyd Noble Center soon or fix OU's attendance problem. If OU can't give fans a winning team to care about, it could at least give them matchups worth anticipating.