Current, former ESPN analyst warn don't sleep on OU, Sooner or later

From the moment official word came out that Oklahoma and Texas were leaving the Big 12 to join the Southeastern Conference, the public reaction was mixed.

Some fans and college football experts were ready to christen the SEC as the ultimate superconference in the conference realignment era with the addition of two of the sport's superpowers. Others, however, were quick to turn to the idiom expression, "Be careful what you wish for."

It's interesting how quickly things can change over time. If you're not constantly preparing for and adapting to change, you can quickly find yourself falling behind. For example, had the move to the SEC happened 10 years ago, Oklahoma would have been viewed as the team more ready to compete at a high level in the SEC than a struggling Texas Longhorn team. Fast-forwarding to the present, however, Texas is coming off its first conference championship since 2009 (but just its fourth Big 12 title overall, compared to 14 by Oklahoma), plus an appearance in last season's College Football Playoff.

When Brent Venables took over the Oklahoma program in December 2021 following the sudden and shocking bail-out of Lincoln Riley, the 2022 season was a shambles by Sooner football standards. Oklahoma finished that season with a losing record of 6-7, its worst in nearly a quarter century. In the second season under Venables, the Sooners were a much better team, improving to 10-3, and they will continue to get better, especially on defense, as they get ready for their inaugural season in the SEC.

Oklahoma is still a very good football team, but based on everything you read and hear previewing the coming college season and the preseason top-25 polls, the Sooners may still be a top-25 team nationally, as they have been virtually every season in the 2000s, but they are projected as just the eighth best team in the SEC. For OU football fans, that is a very humbling reality.

That may be the very real preseason picture of what the 2024 season will look like -- based largely on the Sooners' brutal SEC schedule and lingering concerns on both offense and defense -- but not every national expert is buying in to the notion that Oklahoma is no better than a .500 team against SEC competition.

While it is true that every week during conference play this season is going to be a strong challenge for the Sooners, in contrast to what is was like going against some teams in the Big 12, ESPN college football analyst Kirk Herbstreit warns that SEC teams should not sleep on Oklahoma, and especially in the coming seasons. Herbstreit does not believe that the Sooners have as many problems as some of his media colleagues want you to believe.

As a guest on "The Pat McAfee Show" on ESPN this week, Herbstreit was asked which college team could be a sleeper to make the newly expanded 12-team College Football Playoff this year. Watch out for Oklahoma was his response.

"I think people are sleeping a bit on Oklahoma because there's so much talk about them going, 'You'll see what it's like in the SEC, Oklahoma. Good luck.'"

- ESPN CFB analyst Kirk Herbstreit

"They've got a really young quarterback (Jackson Arnold) that they're high on," Herbstreit said. "I like Coach V, and I think he creates toughness in a football team."

And Herbstreit is not alone in his praise for Oklahoma and the believe that the Sooners may be underrated. The widespread opinion of college football experts is that Texas is more ready to come to the SEC and win than Oklahoma is. That is reflected in Texas being projected as conference favorite Georgia's chief challenger this season, and Oklahoma projected to finish eighth, six spots back of the Longhorns.

At least one dissenting vote to that opinion, however, is former ESPN college football analyst David Pollack. When the two-time All-American linebacker and two-time SEC Defensive Player of the Year was asked on the Crane &Company podcast this week if Texas was that much better than Oklahoma entering the SEC, he reminded the audience which team has had the upper hand for the longest.

The Longhorns have had the better program the last two seasons. No argument there, but Pollack pointed out that the Sooners have had more success in the head-to-head matchup for most of the past two decades as members of the Big 12.

"Let me be clear, the better 'program' is Oklahoma. They went to the College Football Playoff four times. Texas went to one, and that year (2023), by the way, the lost to Oklahoma. Oklahoma is 7-3 against Texas (in their last 10 games). Like they've been a much better program overall than Texas."

- Former SEC All-American David Pollock

Texas may be getting a lot more attention right now than the Sooners, but as we've seen over the years in this long-time rivalry, things can change very rapidly, and if past history is the best predictor of the future, the six teams that sit between the Longhorns and the Sooners in the projected order of finish in the SEC this season would be wise not to overlook Oklahoma and Sooner Magic.