Multiple experts project Sooners for SEC greatness, but when?

This has been a week when most everyone has had something positive to say about Oklahoma football and the countdown as the Sooners begin a new life among the creme de la creme that make up the Southeastern Conference.

Unlike longtime archrival Texas, that joins Oklahoma as the two newest members of the SEC, and comes into the 2024 season as a top-five team in the national preseason rankings, the Sooners are projected as a top-25 team entering the season but only in the middle of the pack in the top-heavy SEC.

This is the week for the unofficial start to 2024 SEC football season with SEC Media Days being held, in of all places, Dallas, Texas, which serves as the headquarters for the Big 12 Conference. Ironically, the big news angle all week has been what impact the two Big 12 teams, Oklahoma and Texas, will have on SEC football both this year, the debut season for both teams, and into the future.

ESPN and SEC college football analyst Paul Finebaum, who had a lot of good things to say about the Sooners when he was in Norman, Oklahoma, the first of this month for the local celebration on the day the Sooners officially became a member of the SEC, continued to pour out the Sooner love earlier this week as a guest on the "McElroy and Cubelic in the Morning" podcast.

Finebaum, who has fired out some mega hate on Lincoln Riley in recent weeks for his decision to leave Oklahoma and his recent struggles at USC, was asked on the "McElroy and Cubelic" show how he thought the Sooners would fare in the SEC.

"I don't think they're (Oklahoma) that far behind. They took a bump and a hit after Lincoln Riley left. They had to reprogram, reboot the entire place. I don't have any doubt Oklahoma is clearly on the way back."

- ESPN/SEC analyst Paul Finebaum

Finebaum went on to say that, with the daunting schedule the Sooners have to navigate this season, if they can win eight or nine games they'll be OK.

Former Alabama head coach Nick Saban

Former Alabama head coach and seven-time national champion Nick Saban was in the house on Day 1 of SEC Media Days on Monday. The college coaching legend had some complimentary comments about Brent Venables and Oklahoma joining the SEC when TJ Eckert of Tulsa TV station KTUL caught up with him in Dallas:

"I think he's a really, really good coach," Saban said about Venables. "He's a hard worker, he's an attention to detail guy and one of the best defensive coaches in college football.

"Their roster is getting better, especially on the defensive side, which was the issue," Saban said. I think they're getting better as a total, balanced roster in terms of the kind of athletes they have, the kind of speed they have, the kind of athleticism they have on their team."

Brian Kelly, LSU

Several other SEC coaches had high praise this week for what Venables is doing at Oklahoma. Asked about the Sooners during his time in the media spotlight at SEC Media Days, LSU coach Brian Kelly said, "I just think they're another outstanding football team with a great history and tradition. I think Coach (Venables) has done a great job adjusting to being the head guy.

"I was really impressed with Coach Venables job, just the bounceback (from 6-7 in 2022 to 10-3 in 2023) and the ability to overcome some adversity."

Kirby Smart, Georgia

It has been fairly common knowledge that the one element that would Oklahoma back from immediate success in its transition to big-boy SEC football was the was the absence of even an average defensive unit. Oklahoma has been known as an all offense, no defense team for quite a few years now and clearly during Lincoln Riley's time at OU.

Someone who know what he's talking about when it comes to defensive excellence is Georgia head coach Kirby Smart, who had high praise this week for the way Brent Venables is building and recruiting his roster.

"As he gets the players he's recruiting more and more, they're going to be a dominant defensive football team," Smart said to reporters in Dallas on Tuesday about the Sooners and they're defensive improvement.

Shane Beamer, South Carolina

Former Oklahoma assistant coach Shane Beamer, who is now in his third season as head coach at South Carolina, knows a thing or two about coming from the Big 12 to the SEC. During his media interview time on Monday, Beamer pointed out two things Oklahoma will need to adjust for in the SEC:

1. The size, depth and athleticism you see on the line of scrimmage every single week in the SEC.

2. The size of the stadiums and the crowd at most every home game in the SEC. Why Gaylord Family Oklahoma Memorial Stadium was the second largest in the Big 12, it ranks eighth in size in the SEC.

"I remember being at Oklahoma and coaching tight ends," Beamer said, "and you would be getting ready to play most Saturdays and there would be one or two guys on the opposing defensive line that you really have got to be cognizant of. Like this guy can really wreck your game if you don't have a plan for him. Then you come into this league (SEC), it's not one or two, it's like six or seven every single Saturday on the line of scrimmage."

As for the size of the stadiums and the crowd noise in the SEC, Oklahoma has played in plenty of big games and in large stadiums in its history, but not practically every weekend as is the case throughout the SEC football season.

Almost every coach, player or influential person asked this week at SEC Media Days about how Oklahoma would fare in the SEC, spoke favorably about the direction of the team and the job Brent Venables is doing. Everyone generally believes that the Sooners are an outstanding addition to the SEC but they stop short of suggesting when, or if, OU will achieve similar greatness to what the Sooners experienced in the Big 12.

One thing most people do agree on is that the Sooners are headed in the right direction under Venables, and if they keep getting better, as most experts predict, the return of the glory days in Oklahoma football aren't far off.