Ranking Oklahoma's 5 best football traditions

Other than winning football games, a few traditions have defined the Oklahoma Sooners over time and made them one of the most recognizable teams in college football. These traditions make game days at Gaylord Family -Oklahoma Memorial Stadium (or the Cotton Bowl) what they are. They are what fans, whether part of Sooner Nation or not, think of when they see that crimson interlocking O and U.

Between Boomer and Sooner, and The Walk of Champions, and The Sooner Schooner, what are OU's greatest traditions and which is No. 1?

5. The Tunnel Walk

After all the pregame pageantry between the Pride of Oklahoma taking the field and fans chanting "Boomer Sooner" back and forth, things get real as the team walks down the tunnel, shown on the videoboard, that it's now game time. Blood really boils as hands reach up and slap the "Play Like A Champion Today" sign that's been there since the Bud Wilkinson era in the 1940s, long before Notre Dame tried to claim the tradition as its own.

Then, after a hype video and an OU legend reminding everyone, "There's Only One Oklahoma," the Sooners erupt onto Owen Field as "Boomer Sooner" plays across the stadium.

4. OU Chant

Starting with "O-K-L-A-H-O-M-A," hearing all of Sooner Nation spell out their home together is a tradition before every kickoff at Memorial Stadium. It's a sign of unity and a reminder that these 80,000+ fans are going to spend the next four quarters together giving the Sooners the greatest advantage they can at home.

O-K-L-A-H-O-M-A 
Our chant rolls on and on! 
Thousands strong 
Join heart and song 
In alma mater's praise 
Of campus beautiful by day and night 
Of colors proudly gleaming Red and White 
'Neath a western sky 
OU's chant will never die. 
Live on University! 

3. Red River Rivalry

This isn't a tradition the Sooners have on their own or even one that's in Oklahoma, but it's a tradition nonetheless as maybe the greatest rivalry in college football that's been around since 1900, before Oklahoma was even a state.

Read more: Where the Red River Rivalry ranks among the SEC's greatest rivalries

OU and Texas meet every second Saturday of October inside a Cotton Bowl that's split right down the middle between crimson and burnt orange, right in the heart of the State Fair of Texas and the same distance from Norman and Austin. While every OU fan should attend a game at Memorial Stadium at least once, the same goes for experiencing the Red River Rivalry.

When it comes to great traditions, the thought of the Red River Rivalry makes you feel some type of way just like everything else on this list.

2. "Boomer Sooner"

You know what will be stuck in your head the rest of the day now.

When anyone sees that famous interlocking O and U, this song inevitably starts playing on a loop in their heads, even for rivals. "Boomer Sooner, Boomer Sooner" just on repeat to the melody that's engraved in their minds, likely from hearing it touchdown after touchdown. It's such a famous tune that it even became a meme on social media trying to poke fun at the Sooners that they play "Boomer Sooner" after every little thing, good or bad. Yet, how much it annoys rivals gives Sooner Nation more reason to play it even more and louder.

The underrated line, though, is what really gets OU fans fired up. "I'm a Sooner born and Sooner bred, and when I die, I'll be Sooner dead!" It's a line that embodies Sooner Nation, as even former head coaches like Bob Stoops and Barry Switzer never quit supporting OU and will be Sooner dead.

Then, as those two words carry so much weight for Sooner Nation, it's not only in the fight song, but OU's favorite chant, whether before a game at Memorial Stadium or Billy Sims yelling it from the back when another Sooner wins a Heisman Trophy.

1. Sooner Schooner

The Sooner Schooner is THE symbol of the Oklahoma Sooners. It's instantly recognizable not just across Oklahoma, but all of college football. USA Today in 2025 even ranked it as the No. 3 best college sport tradition.

Read more: Oklahoma's iconic Sooner Schooner is one of a kind with a legendary history to match

The iconic white ponies, Boomer and Sooner, of course, and wagon, led by The RUF/NEKS, made its first trip across Owen Field after a touchdown in 1964 and has ever since. It's based on the Studebaker Conestoga wagon that was used by settlers during the Oklahoma Land Run in the late 1800s as an ode to OU's Sooners nickname.

This isn't just the greatest tradition at Oklahoma, but arguably for all of college football.

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