The Oklahoma football program hasn't gotten to where it is in the pantheon of college football greatness by shying away from tough competition.
Throughout an illustrious football history, the Sooners have lived by the expression, "To be the best, you have to beat the best," and they have done so on many an occasion over the years. Although a data base of a team's all-time record against ranked opponents (teams in the nation's top 25 at the time the game was played) is not readily available, I think it's safe to say that OU has won more than its share of such encounters.
The opportunity to play some of the best teams in the country presents itself in spades this season for the Sooners as a new member of the best conference in college football. Oklahoma's SEC schedule this season includes six games against teams ranked ahead of the No. 16 Sooners in most all of the preseason polls. And a couple of OU's nonconference opponents could be considered trap games if the Sooners get caught looking too far ahead.
There is no question the Sooners have their work cut out for them as members of the SEC. There are no gimmes in this league. You have to be at your best every weekend if you are going to come away with a victory, both at home and especially on the road.
Playing in big games in big overfilled stadiums in nothing new for Oklahoma, but this season and from now on, that will be the case practically every week, and that is something that will be very different for Team 130 and all future Sooner football teams.
For the past two and a half years, the universal question raised by fans and media alike has been: Will Oklahoma be ready to compete in the SEC. The Sooners themselves are asking a different question: Will the SEC be ready for Oklahoma? We won't know the answer to that for several months, but I can tell you this: Sooner Team 130 is a lot more ready than it was three seasons ago when Brent Venables took over a program that, unbeknownst to many, was in disarray on defense, not well fortified and taking two steps backward for every step forward.
Oklahoma has equivalent talent at the skill positions and playmakers on both sides of the line of scrimmage, but as Venables has related over and over this spring and summer, to win in the SEC you have to win the battle in the trenches. The size and quality of the play at the point of attack -- on the offensive and defensive lines -- is what makes the SEC different and better than any other conference.
"This is a league that's going to challenge you there (in the trenches)," Venables said during SEC Media Days in Dallas in July. "To me, that's like the jugular. If you want to compete at the highest level and to be able to sustain it week in and week out, you're going to be challenged there and you've got to win in that space more than you lose."
Venables was a guest this week on the "Marty and McGee" program on the SEC Network and was asked what made him jump at the head-coaching position at Oklahoma after turning down numerous offers from other high-profile programs.
"I know if I'm going to be successful as a head coach, I want to wake up every day when my feet hit the ground and love what I do, where I do it and with (whom) I do it, and it was just like, check, check, check," the OU head coach said.
"I always knew, man, there's no limit on what Oklahoma can achieve. This is the standard in college football."
The SEC 2024 Preseason Media Poll has Oklahoma finishing eighth this season-- right in the middle of the pack -- in the newly expanded 16-team conference standings. This is totally unfamiliar territory for a Sooner football program that has the third most national championships in the AP Poll era (7) and has won more conference championships(50) than any other team.
The Oklahoma schedule for 2024 is as challenging as it's ever been, but one thing is for certain; Venables' Sooner teams play hard and play to the end, so any of their SEC opponents would be ill-advised to take OU lightly this or any season. Something else that seems relatively certain, given Venables' coaching history and affiliation with championship teams, Oklahoma is only going to get better from here.