Brent Venables and the Oklahoma Sooners have a chance to deliver the knockout punch in a heavyweight recruiting fight that is coming down to the final round.
Chad Simmons of On3 reported Monday that top-10 2026 quarterback Bowe Bentley shuffled his official visits schedule around to make OU his last stop. Bentley was originally supposed to be in Norman on June 13 but moved that visit up a week to June 6, while also rescheduling his trip to LSU from June 20 to May 30.
On3's Hayes Fawcett also reported over the weekend that Bentley is officially down to OU and LSU as his last two college choices.
Bowe Bentley shuffles visit schedule between Sooners and LSU
It's no surprise Bentley is down to OU and LSU. His final three schools were OU, LSU and Georgia, but after the Bulldogs landed Jared Curtis, it was assumed Georgia was crossed off the list of SEC powerhouses, leaving just the Sooners and Tigers unless another program emerged as a late contender.
The battle for Bentley has been intense, especially for the Sooners. OU already has a 2026 QB committed in Jaden O'Neal, so there was some confusion and drama after the Sooners offered a second quarterback in late January.
Bentley had just flashed on the radar when OU offered him, but has since risen as a consensus top-10 quarterback recruit in the 2026 class. Meanwhile, O'Neal's stock has declined and 247Sports even recently dropped him from four stars to three.
It now appears Bentley is OU's top option at quarterback, but the Sooners also still have O'Neal as a safety net. However, O'Neal has started entertaining other options since OU offered Bentley.
O'Neal will be in Norman on June 20 during OU's big ChampU recruiting weekend. Bentley will visit the Sooners two weeks before that, which might have been strategic by Venables and his staff.
OU should know Bentley's decision by ChampU weekend, so if he does choose LSU, then the Sooners then have another opportunity to make sure O'Neal doesn't look elsewhere and leave OU without a 2026 QB commit.
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