After 104 years as a member of what eventually evolved into the Big 12 Conference, the Oklahoma Sooners are like a new kid in a new school and experiencing their first day as a new member of the almighty Southeastern Conference, otherwise known simply as the SEC.
What has been discussed and debated exhaustively for over three years now -- for good or bad -- on this very day, July 1, 2024, comes to fruition.
In discussing the subject in a recent interview with Tulsa World sports columnist Berry Tramel, longtime sports columnist, radio and TV personality and SEC advocate Paul Finebaum said the addition of Oklahoma and Texas, to of the biggest names in college football and all of collegiate sports, to the SEC will only make an already strong conference even stronger.
Any major conference in the country would have welcomed these two schools with open arms, Finebaum said, but they are now members of the SEC.
OU x @SEC pic.twitter.com/rE8JQZ5v4c
— Joe Castiglione (@soonerad) July 1, 2024
The biggest cache the Sooners bring to their new home in the SEC, of course, is a football program that may not quite be ready to contend for an SEC championship but clearly brings with it an iconic national brand and a championship resume in football that tops every other school in the conference aside from Alabama. Oklahoma brings with it seven national championships, seven Heisman Trophy winners and 50 conference championships, the most of any team at the highest level of college football.
Many experts question the Sooners ability to sustain that same level of historic success now that they are a member of the conference believed to be the premier college football league. That remains to be seen
OU head coach Brent Venables believes adamantly his team is ready to compete in the SEC and he has spent two and a half years preparing and shaping the Sooner football program for this moment in time.
"We're hungry, man. Hearing all that talk about the SEC, it gets brought up every single day. At some point you recognize that "the best" is the standard for us. That doesn't change."Brent Venables
Going to the SEC doesn't change our mindset, the OU head coach told reporters recently. "We're going to prepare every single game the exact same way no matter who the opponent is. When you consider yourself the best, you prepare like that every single week."
The reality is, Oklahoma is bringing more than just football to the SEC outstanding when it comes to highly competitive and national championship-level athletic programs. Here is how the Sooners compare in the other major sports several other OU athletic strongholds.