Oklahoma Sooners just extended a 27-year streak that only further proves they deserve to be in the SEC
The Oklahoma Sooners were ranked in the preseason AP Poll.
There aren’t very many college football programs with a richer history than the one the Oklahoma Sooners have. You could throw a few out there, like Alabama or maybe USC, Notre Dame, etc. But, the Sooners are certainly up there.
It just means something a little different to go to Oklahoma and play football than it does most places, even in this current era, where they haven’t been particularly dominant. The last time you could say they were a dominant team was probably with Baker Mayfield, if not before that. Since then, they’ve just been a team that wins a lot of football games, but has also lost some that they shouldn’t have.
And that takes us into this current era, the one under Brent Venables. He’s a great defensive coordinator, we all know that. He’s one of the best minds on that side of the football in the entire country. But his time as a head coach has not been easy, certainly not as easy as his days with the Clemson Tigers were with he was their defensive coordinator.
In three full seasons, going into his fourth, Venables has had two losing seasons. They are the first two losing seasons since the late 90s, which is not something you really want to be known for. But, he does have one big time win against Texas in the Cotton Bowl, that game pretty much on a game winner, and a win over Alabama last year that they had no business winning.
So, it’s proof that he can win games, and last year was proof that he can win games in the SEC, despite everything possible going wrong for them. They deserve to be in the SEC, as you can’t stack them and their history up against any other team in the SEC, and the only school that really beats them out is Alabama, the Mecca of college football.
And now they have extended a 27-year streak that also proves they deserve to be in the SEC.
Sooners get ranked in the preseason AP Poll
There aren’t many teams that can say they have been ranked in a preseason AP Poll for 10, or even 15 years in a row. Alabama has, but once again, they are the highest of standards at this point. Then, there are only a few teams that have done it for 20 years in a row. Then there is the Oklahoma Sooners, who have done it more than that.
According to Jesse Crittenden, the Sooners have now been ranked in the preseason AP Poll 27 years in a row, which is pretty insane to think about. That would mean in about 1997, the Sooners weren’t ranked in the preseason AP Poll, but have been since then every single year.
That’s mighty impressive for a team that hasn’t been in the SEC, considering the best programs are supposedly all in the SEC.
The Oklahoma Sooners are one of them, and they’ll be starting at No. 18 to start the 2025 season, which is a pretty good place for them to start. Now, we have to see how far up they can climb, as they’ll quickly face No. 14 Michigan in Week 2.
The Sooners also play seven teams ranked in the preseason AP Poll, tied with Florida and Mississippi State for the most in the country.
