The media circus, headlined by a new generation of ESPN’s “College GameDay”, will descend upon Norman, Okla. Saturday morning. More than 75 recruits, per 247Sports.com, will be in attendance at Gaylord Family Oklahoma Memorial Stadium. One of the the Big 10’s best in Michigan will travel south to play one of the SEC’s best in Oklahoma.
That, Oklahoma head coach Brent Venables said, all makes for a “really cool” game. It is, and yet, the pageantry is only the start.
“Most importantly,” Venables continued, “we’ll get an opportunity to match up with one of, what’s been for the last several years, one of the best teams in college football.”
But, dependent on how much belief one places upon the AP Top 25, the Wolverines are no better than the fourth-best team that the Sooners will play before this season concludes.
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The Wolverines, ranked No. 15 in the country after their Week 1 win against New Mexico, can provide a “litmus test” for No. 18 Oklahoma, Venables said Tuesday during his weekly media availability. The Sooners could use one.
No disrespect meant to Illinois State, which Oklahoma thumped 35-3 in its Week 1 win, but this week’s Midwest offering might provide the Sooners a better opportunity to both position themselves for an arduous second-half schedule and boost a hopeful postseason resume.
A win Saturday vs. the Wolverines does not necessarily guarantee that Oklahoma will fare any better against the teams that await them in the second half of the season than it would otherwise. It would, however, create a slightly larger margin for error when the Sooners begin a stacked conference schedule that includes three teams ranked above Michigan.
It’s the biggest game on Oklahoma’s schedule before it plays Texas in the Red River Rivalry game at the Cotton Bowl Oct. 11. That game, which the Longhorns won last season, is the first of six nationally ranked teams that the Sooners will play in a six game span to finish the season.
The Sooners host No. 18 Ole Miss Oct. 25 and No. 3 LSU Nov. 29. They’ll travel to play No. 10 South Carolina (Oct. 18), No. 22 Tennessee (Nov. 1) and No. 21 Alabama (Nov. 21). They went 1-5 against those teams last season and also lost to Missouri which, as of this week, is one of only two unranked conference foes that Oklahoma has on its schedule.
Oklahoma did not qualify for the College Football Playoff in any of Venables’ first three seasons as head coach and haven’t since it lost to the Joe Burrow-led Tigers in the semifinals of the 2019 season. They are 4-7 against ranked teams since the start of the 2022 season.
The Sooners, Venables said Tuesday, “represent the excellence in college football” alongside Michigan. The historical data suggests as much: Michigan began this season with the most wins in college football history, a dozen national championships and three Heisman Trophy winners. Oklahoma began it with the sixth-most victories, seven titles and seven Heisman Trophy recipients.
But, in the transfer portal, name, image and likeness and expanded postseason era, the Sooners have largely taken a back seat to a crop of blue bloods and new bloods that’ve operated as heavier hitters when winter play begins.
Saturday’s nationally televised affair represents an opportunity for Oklahoma to effectively kickstart a season that can allow it to reestablish itself as one of college football’s upper crust programs.
It doesn’t become any easier afterward.
“Pressure is a privilege,” Venables said, “and I want our guys to embrace that.”
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