{"id":58755,"date":"2024-07-01T13:41:50","date_gmt":"2024-07-01T18:41:50","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/demo.wztzfm.com\/wp\/?p=58755"},"modified":"2024-07-01T13:41:50","modified_gmt":"2024-07-01T18:41:50","slug":"setting-early-expectations-for-oklahoma-football-against-big-dogs-in-sec","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/demo.wztzfm.com\/wp\/setting-early-expectations-for-oklahoma-football-against-big-dogs-in-sec\/","title":{"rendered":"Setting early expectations for Oklahoma football against \u2018big dogs\u2019 in SEC"},"content":{"rendered":"

It\u2019s July and that means the Oklahoma Sooners<\/a><\/strong> are officially a member of the SEC. It\u2019s an exciting time for the school\u2019s programs, especially football, which has a difficult schedule to face as it makes the transition to the conference.<\/p>\n

Eddie Radosevich<\/a> and George Stoia<\/a> from Sooner Scoop<\/a><\/strong> joined Andy Staples On3<\/em>. There, they broke down Oklahoma\u2019s move to the SEC in the short term, setting those early expectations. They agree that, culturally, Oklahoma will fit in right away. However, having the same type of success on the field itself that Sooners\u2019 fans are used to might take a couple of seasons.<\/p>\n

\u201cCertainly, year two was better than year one under Brent Venables,<\/a><\/strong>\u201d Radosevich said<\/a>. \u201cI think they\u2019ve taken steps into what they feel like is closer and closer to be able to compete with some of the quote-unquote big dogs of the SEC. But they\u2019ve got a ways to go.\u201d <\/p>\n

In the two years that Brent Venables has been at Oklahoma, he\u2019s been working to build the program in the image that he has for it. That includes an emphasis on recruiting, line play, and the defensive side of the football as a whole.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think, obviously, it starts on the offensive line. It starts on the defensive line. It\u2019s something that we\u2019ve talked to you about, Andy, just in terms of what Oklahoma is from an offensive line standpoint going into their first season in the SEC, but getting a guy like a Damonic Williams<\/a><\/strong> from TCU<\/a><\/strong> I feel like they\u2019re starting to make those strides.\u201d <\/p>\n

Oklahoma had the ninth-ranked recruiting class in the 2024 cycle<\/a>, according to the On3 Industry Rankings<\/a>. It\u2019s a deep and talented class that could help lead to long-term success for the Sooners.<\/p>\n

\u201cObviously, the 2024 recruiting class that they brought in with the defensive line is going to be a positive. It\u2019s probably going to take a couple of years to really get a feeling for where that thing is at with the David Stones<\/a><\/strong> and Jayden Jacksons<\/a><\/strong> of the world, but I think they feel like they\u2019re taking the right steps and that\u2019s why you look at year number three and year number one in the SEC for Oklahoma,\u201d Radosevich said. <\/p>\n

\u201cIf you\u2019re able to get to eight, nine, even 10 wins and all of a sudden you look up and you\u2019re getting into a College Football Playoff, I think would be a spectacular season. So, I think that Oklahoma football, even in just the brand for itself, at least from the Norman perspective it should heighten what the SEC is, but at the same time they\u2019re going to have their work cut out for them going into this first season, especially with that schedule.\u201d<\/p>\n

At that point, George Stoia emphasized that one challenge for fans is that there is an expectation to win at a high level. However, given the difficulty of Oklahoma\u2019s schedule in 2024, that\u2019s going to be tough. Instead, it\u2019s about viewing how the team sets itself for long-term success in the SEC.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019ve told you this. It\u2019s about the long-term expectations for the program. I understand OU fans want to win a lot next year and if they win nine games that\u2019s a great year for them when you look at that schedule, and I think if you look at the way they\u2019re recruiting, it\u2019s gonna take some time to be built because they have recruited at a high level but now you\u2019re starting to see some of those guys get in,\u201d Stoia said. <\/p>\n

\u201cI think you start looking at the 2025 season. 2026, we\u2019ll see what that schedule looks like. I just think it\u2019s gonna be tough if next year if OU goes 8-4 there will be people out there saying this is the demise of Brent Venables and the program\u2019s heading in the wrong direction. I would view it as that\u2019s almost a step in the right direction if you get eight or nine wins because of how tough the schedule is. So, I think no one is expecting OU to win a national championship next year.\u201d<\/p>\n

With this move from Oklahoma to the SEC, it\u2019s another major change in the world of college football. Now, the SEC and Big Ten are deep and full of talented programs. The Playoff is expanding to 12 teams. So, what success looks like overall is changing too.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s also one of those things that I think college football fans as a whole are gonna have to learn, especially as we get into this 12-Team Playoff and some of the bigger conferences, winning 11 or 12 games every single season, and obviously the expectation that Oklahoma fans have for the program, they\u2019re gonna have to change a little bit. It\u2019s not saying they shouldn\u2019t have the expectation to play for an SEC Championship or get into a Playoff or go compete for a national championship,\u201d Radosevich said. <\/p>\n

\u201cBut I think the days of these undefeated teams all over the country and especially in the SEC or some of these power four conferences. That\u2019s over to a certain extent. It\u2019s just gonna be too competitive.\u201d<\/p>\n

The post Setting early expectations for Oklahoma football against \u2018big dogs\u2019 in SEC<\/a> appeared first on On3<\/a>.<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

It\u2019s July and that means the Oklahoma Sooners are officially a member of the SEC….<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":0,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"ngg_post_thumbnail":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-58755","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/demo.wztzfm.com\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/58755","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/demo.wztzfm.com\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/demo.wztzfm.com\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/demo.wztzfm.com\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=58755"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/demo.wztzfm.com\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/58755\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":58789,"href":"https:\/\/demo.wztzfm.com\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/58755\/revisions\/58789"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/demo.wztzfm.com\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=58755"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/demo.wztzfm.com\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=58755"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/demo.wztzfm.com\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=58755"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}