Don't look for any more Big 12 opponents for the Sooners in the foreseeable future
By Chip Rouse
Oklahoma has played just two football games since leaving the Big 12 Conference, but one of those games was with a member of the Big 12.
OU defeated Houston 16-12 in Week 2 in what will be the last game between the Sooners and a team from their former conference for the foreseeable future. Houston was one of the four new teams that joined the Big 12 prior to last season, while the Sooners were in their final year in the conference. Because of the unbalanced 2023 Big 12 schedule, however, Houston and OU did not play each other in football.
Nonconference schedules are put together years in advance. Oklahoma already has nonconference opponents scheduled as far out as 1936. The Sooners already have at least one Power Four opponent scheduled through 2030: at home with Michigan in 2025, at Michigan in 2026, at SMU in 2027, at Houston in 2028, vs. former Big 12 foe Nebraska (now a member of the Big Ten) in 2029 and at Nebraska in 2030.
The Sooners currently do have nonconference openings between 1931 and 1934, but barring any changes would not be able to schedule a Big 12 opponent before then.
Oklahoma athletic director Joe Castiglione was asked by The Oklahoman recently if the Sooners would be interested in rekindling some old Big 12 matchups in future years, and his answer was an emphatic "yes."
"It's not to say that we would look exclusively to scheduling Big 12 teams, but there are some additional benefits to playing in this region," the OU athletic director said. "There are some long-time matchups with Big 12 teams that are compelling, too."
A future "Bedlam" matchup against Oklahoma State, for example, would be a possibility, but not for any time imminent. The Oklahoma and Oklahoma State basketball teams do have a nonconference basketball game scheduled, however, for the 2024-25 season.
Castiglione did say that he has had discussions with some but not all Big 12 teams about future football dates. A further scheduling complication is that the SEC is considering going to a nine-game conference schedule after the 2025 season. Such a move would add an additional wrinkle in trying to schedule Big 12 opponents in the future.