The Las Vegas oddsmakers have Oklahoma's over/under win total at 7.5 for the 2026 college football season. That seems a bit on the low side considering all the preseason hype on how much better the offense should be, coupled with a Brent Venables-led defense that looks to be as unrelenting and stingy as ever.
The difficut schedule no doubt has something to do with that seemingly low projection, but given the front-loaded nature of what appears to be the Sooners' biggest games of the season, it shouldn't take long for fans to get a clearer picture of what this season could be like for Oklahoma Team 132
A betting Sooner fan might easily conclude that the cards are stacked against Oklahoma again this season with what the experts say is the nation's second-most difficult schedule, plus the addition of a ninth conference game in what many believe is the best football league in the country.
The same was true of last season, though, and that OU team managed to win 10 games and earn a host spot in the College Football Playoff despite having one of the worst offensive seasons in recent team history.
For a number of seasons during the past decade, Oklahoma either led the country or was among the national leaders in total offense and averaged over 40 points a game. The past two seasons, however, the mostly stagnant Sooner offense averaged just 25.0 points a game.
Had the Oklahoma offense the past two seasons been able to put up even 30 points a game, we might have been looking at a 2024 season with three or four fewer losses than the seven on record, and last season, in which the stellar Sooner defense carried most of the water, an 11-1 record wouldn't have been out of the question.
Everybody in the know is in agreement that the Oklahoma offense has to be better if the Sooners are to ensure that last season's success was not an anomaly and if OU is to remain a legitimate conference title and national championship contender going forward.
It was once the defense holding Oklahoma back before Brent Venables
What a curious twist of fate this is from just a few short years ago and the OU teams under head coach Lincoln Riley that were all-offense and no defense. Those Sooner teams could outscore anybody but were incapable of stopping the opponent from scoring.
The good news for Sooner fans is that with a defense that should remain one of the best in the SEC as long as Venables is around, the offense doesn't have to return to historic Oklahoma levels for the Sooners to regularly become one of the top teams in the SEC, as well as in the country. They just need to be more balanced and consistent on offense and put a few more points on the scoreboard on a more regular basis.
Read more: Brent Venables makes a middle-of-the-road Oklahoma offense enough to be a title contender
With offseason upgrades and depth added at tight end and wide receiver, in particular, along with key additions at running back and a more experienced offensive line, quarterback John Mateer will have a better supporting cast around him and more offensive weapons. And Mateer himself should be better following an offseason totally focused on physical and mental improvement in his game and a throwing hand that is recovered from a broken thumb suffered early last season.
On paper, it's hard to imagine that the Oklahoma offense wouldn't be better this season and more complementary to an already outstanding defense. Factor in a special teams unit that rates with the best in the country, and this OU team has the potential of being the most complete Oklahoma team this century.
But that still has to be proven on the field week in and week out in the games themselves, which officially get underway in a little over three weeks.
A harsh reality in a conference as competitive and good as the SEC is, 1 through 16, a team can actually be better year over year and not have a record that reflects that improvement.
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