Oklahoma's 2027 Week 0 experiment is the right response to a 9-game SEC schedule

College football will come sooner than ever before for the Oklahoma Sooners in 2027.

On Wednesday, OU announced a few schedule updates for 2027, adding Utah State to the slate on Saturday, Aug. 28, and moving its matchup with SMU up a week to Saturday, Sept. 4. The new date with Utah State gives the Sooners a Week 0 game for the first time in program history, as head coach Brent Venables gets an advantage that might have been overlooked when the announcement was first made. 

A Week 0 matchup means another bye week for a team deeper into the season. A week off for the Sooners will be a lot more beneficial at any point in the season, especially in the midst of a new grueling nine-game SEC schedule, than it would be in August after a long offseason, chomping at the bit to get back on the field. OU will also likely start fall camp a week earlier than usual so no practice time is lost.

Oklahoma's 2027 opponents

Utah State (Aug. 28)
SMU (Sept. 4 at AT&T Stadium in Arlington)
Alabama
Arkansas
at Auburn
at LSU
Missouri
at Ole Miss
Tennessee
Texas (in Dallas)
at Vanderbilt

Extra bye week will be underrated advantage for Sooners in 2027

This upcoming 2026 season, the Sooners get just one bye week while enduring the SEC’s first nine-game conference slate and maybe the toughest schedule in all of college football. That lone bye week, though, does at least fall at the perfect time for the Sooners, right between what could be back-to-back top-5 matchups. OU will travel to Georgia on Sept. 26, then get a breather before playing Texas in the Red River Rivalry on Oct. 10. 

The rest of the Sooners’ 2026 schedule eases up after what could be three top-15 matchups in the first five games, with a trip to Michigan also on the docket. However, nothing is easy in the SEC, and the Sooners will have to take on eight conference foes in a row with no break. Unlike other SEC teams, Oklahoma also didn’t build in a pseudo bye week by scheduling a cupcake FCS opponent in mid-November. 

Read more: Oklahoma 2026 football schedule sets up best for the Sooners' worst-case scenario

Although it’s still a year away, it’s clear the 2027 schedule will be just as challenging for the Sooners, no matter how it all shakes out. But at least now, thanks to what should be an easy win a week before the rest of college football really gets started, Oklahoma will get an extra week to recover in the meat of its schedule instead of playing on. That could be the difference in a vital player being healthy or not for a crucial SEC contest with College Football Playoff implications.

The Sooners will be part of a Week 0 slate in 2027 that, so far, includes 12 games with just two Power 4 vs. Power 4 matchups. LSU is the only other SEC program with a Week 0 contest scheduled. 

Also mentioned during Oklahoma’s schedule update was that the program is still looking for a third 2027 non-conference opponent to join Utah State and SMU. The Sooners were initially scheduled to host San Diego State next year, but that prior arrangement is evidently no more. However, don’t anticipate the Sooners announcing a marquee matchup to fill that date since SMU is already serving as their required Power 4 opponent for the season. 

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