OU lost the 2024 Southeastern Conference football scheduling derby.
Or did the Sooners win?
Depends on who you are and what you wanted.
The SEC announced the 2024 opponents for each school, via a one-hour show Wednesday on the SEC Network.
The OU verdict? Home games against Alabama, Tennessee and South Carolina. Road games at Louisiana State, Ole Miss, Auburn and Missouri. Plus Texas in Dallas.
Even by SEC standards, a tough schedule.
More:Top 10 SEC football games on 2024 schedule with Oklahoma and Texas joining league
Brent Venables was a big loser in the reveal; OU was saddled with a much tougher schedule than, say, Texas. If Venables is sorely in need of a solid record come autumn 2024, only three SEC home games is no way to get it.
Traveling Sooner fans are a big winner; OU will be going to three SEC locales that never have hosted the football Sooners. Baton Rouge, Auburn, Oxford. All with various forms of steep college football tradition.
The OU ticket office is another big winner. Alabama, Tennessee and South Carolina are bound for Owen Field in 2024. That’s no tougher home slate than what the Sooners faced in 2012 (Notre Dame, Kansas State, Bedlam) or 2016 (Ohio State, Kansas State, Bedlam), but the SEC frenzy is in overdrive. Fresh meat tastes better than frozen.
Of course, when (if?) the Sooners get back in the business of scheduling non-conference heavyweights, and you add Michigan (2025, hopefully) to an LSU or Georgia and a nine-game SEC slate, then the value of an Owen Field season ticket truly reaches its zenith.
As for the inequities of 2024, eventually, the scheduling toughness will even out. Eventually, the Sooners will get four SEC home games a year, and the season ticket value will match the hype. Eventually, the Sooners will hit every SEC campus and neither side will be such a novelty.
But for now, you have to be clear in what you want.
And 2024 does not present a smooth road for the Sooners. Compare it to the Longhorns. The SEC wisely decreed that all 14 legacy members would play either OU or Texas in Year 1.
With the eight-game scheduling format, either OU or Texas will get only three home games, since the designated OU-Texas home team is taking that game to Dallas.
The Sooners drew the 2024 short straw. Three home games to Texas’ four.
OU’s Owen Field foes (Alabama, Tennessee, South Carolina) generally are similar in class to Texas’ Royal-Memorial visitors (Georgia, Florida, Kentucky, Mississippi State).
But OU’s road schedule is a viper den compared to Texas’. The Sooners play at Louisiana State, Auburn, Ole Miss and Missouri. The ‘Horns play at Arkansas, Texas A&M and Vanderbilt.
Not only did Texas get the homefield advantage, but OU drew LSU, the assumed No. 3 power on the SEC food chain (behind Alabama and Georgia), while Texas drew Vanderbilt, the SEC’s traditional automatic victory.
The same team playing each schedule could be expected to finish with an extra win playing Texas’ schedule rather than OU’s.
That’s a swallowable pill if the 2024 schedule was like most models and was reversed in a year or two. Switch the opponents in 2025, switch the sites in 2026 and 2027.
But that’s not a given. The 2024 SEC schedule could be a one-off, as commissioner Greg Sankey maneuvers for consensus on a nine-game schedule.
So this schedule likely will hurt the Sooners in the standings. For now, of course, fans don’t care.
OU’s SEC lineup is much more attractive than Texas’. Heck, the Longhorns’ 2024 conference road schedule seems straight out of 1974 – Fayetteville, College Station and Vanderbilt (which might as well be Rice).
The home games for each are similar, though OU gets an extra kick with Tennessee and Josh Heupel coming to town. Tom Herman coaches Florida Atlantic, not Florida.
Outside the newcomers, the most striking element of the SEC schedule is who drew Alabama and Georgia, and who drew neither.
Bama and Georgia have become the beasts of not just the SEC, but the entire sport. The SEC could have chosen to give the other 14 members one or the other in 2024, but that would have precluded Auburn from playing both of its historic rivals.
More:How have Oklahoma Sooners fared vs. SEC football opponents over the years?
Turns out, Tennessee got both, too. Not great news for Heupel in the Smoky Mountains.
Which means two schools get to miss both Alabama and Georgia. The SEC picked Arkansas and Texas A&M.
The Razorbacks aren’t likely to be SEC contenders, and you can’t count on the Aggies for much of anything, but at least A&M is talented.
Georgia at A&M seemed a natural pairing, since the Aggies and Bulldogs have been together in the SEC since 2011, and Georgia still hasn’t played at A&M.
It’s almost as if A&M made a deal with the devil. The Aggies would quit carping about Texas (and OU) coming into the SEC, so long as A&M gets scheduling breaks, like no Georgia for as long as possible and the first A&M-UT reunion being in College Station.
If Jimbo Fisher can avoid getting himself fired after the 2023 season, his 2024 slate is manageable.
By SEC standards, manageable describes Texas’ schedule. But by SEC standards, Texas’ schedule is not nearly as adventurous as OU’s.
The Sooners wanted in the SEC. With Bama and Tennessee coming to town, and road trips to LSU, Auburn and Ole Miss, OU will get all of the SEC it can handle.
More:Nick Saban spoke out of turn. The SEC clapped back with 2024 schedule gantlet | Toppmeyer
ORU the latest baseball Cinderella
The Men’s College World Series has a solid history of Cinderella champions.
Nine of the last 42 NCAA baseball champs have come from outside the power conferences, including four of the last 19:
Coastal Carolina 2016, Fresno State 2008. Cal State-Fullerton 2004, Rice 2003.
Could Oral Roberts join the list?
The Golden Eagles stormed through the Stillwater Regional, then beat Oregon in a rousing, three-game Super Regional.
ORU plays Texas Christian at 1 p.m. Friday to launch the annual baseball festival in Omaha, Nebraska.
“I think underdog is a term that maybe other people use,” said long-time ORU coach Ryan Folmar. “It’s not something we look at. It’s not something we talk about.
“We’re very confident with our group. We’re confident that they’re good players, that they’re where they’re supposed to be. They’ve played well over a long period of time. Whether somebody wants to label them underdog, a 4 seed, it really doesn’t matter this time of year.”
Forty-five years ago, ORU reached the World Series, under Larry Cochell, who later would coach Cal State-Fullerton and OU to Omaha, winning with the Sooners.
That ORU team went 45-12 and finished ranked fifth in the nation. And ORU has produced quality baseball mostly ever since.
But returning to the World Series is not easy.
“I think the biggest take we’ve had from our journey is our group and how resilient they are, how tough they are, how disciplined they are to have an opportunity to be here and compete for a national title,” Folmar said.
“We’re excited that a lot of guys from our 1978 College World Series team are going to be in attendance, along with countless alumni and former players that are going to be here as well.”
Folmar, who played at OSU, is in his 20th season at ORU, the last 11 as head coach. A few Oklahomans have helped the Golden Eagles get this far.
First baseman Jake McMurray of Tulsa Bishop Kelley is batting .327 with six home runs and 47 runs batted in. Pitcher Brooks Fowler of Jenks has a 9-1 record, with a 3.27 earned run average. Bartlesville’s Jakob Hall is 8-3, with a 3.56 ERA.
“We hustle,” McMurray said. “We grind out at-bats. We have a great bullpen. Our starting pitching has been fantastic all year, but the main thing for us is just the tight close-knit of this group and how we play for each other and with each other.”
ORU is the longest shot to win the MCWS. But mid-majors have won it before.
More:Oral Roberts embraces underdog status heading into College World Series opener vs. TCU
Big Ten scheduling is mostly static
The Big Ten marches mostly in solidarity when it comes to non-conference football scheduling. Three games each. One against a Power Five Conference opponent, then two lesser opponents, with about half the league opting for Division I-AA foes.
Only two schools don’t follow that model. One goes tougher, one goes easier. It should come as no surprise that those two teams rank No. 1 and No. 14 in our ranking of the Big Ten’s non-conference schedules, as we continue our series of each league’s non-conference schedule:
1. Purdue: Fresno State, at Virginia Tech, Syracuse. No great opponent, but three reasonably-quality games. Few teams in America have zero guaranteed victories.
2. Ohio State: Youngstown State, Western Kentucky, at Notre Dame. Buckeyes at the Fighting Irish. Hard to get better than that, but the other two games are non-competitive.
3. Michigan State: Central Michigan, Richmond, Washington. UW in East Lansing is a marquee game. Huge for both teams.
4. Minnesota: Eastern Michigan, at North Carolina, Louisiana. Gophers-Tar Heels is an interesting matchup of programs that have improved in recent years.
5. Iowa: Utah State, at Iowa State, Western Michigan. Maybe I’m the only one, but I love the CyHawk rivalry. And the Hawkeyes’ other two games aren’t terrible mid-majors.
6. Illinois: Toledo, at Kansas, Florida Atlantic. Who knew KU could lift a schedule? But the Jayhawks do, and Toledo and FAU aren’t terrible mid-majors, either.
7. Wisconsin: Buffalo, at Washington State, Georgia Southern. WSU stunned the Badgers last season. And Georgia Southern is no pushover.
8. Northwestern: Texas-El Paso, at Duke, Howard. The Wildcats believe in diversity. Hard to find a more disparate trio than UTEP, Duke and Howard.
9. Indiana: Indiana State, Louisville in Indianapolis, Akron. I wonder which team will have more fans in Lucas Oil Stadium, IU or the ‘Ville? Probably the Hoosiers.
10. Nebraska: at Colorado, Northern Illinois, Louisiana Tech. Matt Rhule vs. Deion Sanders. What a country.
11. Rutgers: Temple, Virginia Tech, Wagner. This is sort of a depressing trio, though there’s always something to be said about playing a team from Staten Island (Wagner).
12. Penn State: West Virginia, Delaware, Massachusetts. The Nittany Lions are keeping it colonial America.
13. Maryland: Towson, Charlotte, Virginia. Virginia isn’t much of a threat, but at least it’s an old Atlantic Coast Conference rivalry.
14. Michigan: Colorado State, Hawaii, Connecticut. For the second straight year, the Wolverines check out of the non-conference business.
Games against Power Five foes: 33.3%. Games against Division I-AA foes: 16.7%. Road games: 20.2%.
More:Tramel’s ScissorTales: Ex-OSU quarterback Taylor Cornelius carving out nice career in CFL
The List: Western Conference dominance
The NBA remains dominated by the Western Conference. The Denver Nuggets’ title gives the West 10 of the last 15 NBA championships. And the dominance of LeBron James has supplied three of the East’s five titles during that span.
Here’s another way to gauge Western Conference dominance: superstars.
The Ringer produced its post-season list of the NBA’s top 125 players. Four Thunder players made the list – Shai Gilgeous-Alexander No. 13, Josh Giddey No. 69, Jalen Williams No. 81 and Luguentz Dort No. 112.
But of the top 20, 14 were from the West. Here’s the list.
1. Nikola Jokic, Nuggets
2. Steph Curry, Warriors:
3. Giannis Antetokounmpo, Bucks
4. Kevin Durant, Suns
5. Joel Embiid, 76ers
6. Jayson Tatum, Celtics
7. Luka Doncic, Mavericks
8. Kawhi Leonard, Clippers
9. Jimmy Butler, Heat
10. Devin Booker, Suns
11. Anthony Davis, Lakers
12. LeBron James, Lakers
13. Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Thunder
14. Damian Lillard, Blazers
15. Donovan Mitchell, Cavaliers
16. Jamal Murray, Nuggets
17. De’Aaron Fox, Kings
18. Ja Morant, Grizzlies
19. James Harden, 76ers
20. Domantas Sabonis, Kings
Of the East’s six players on this list, two (Butler and Harden) are on the back side of their careers.
Of the still-rising stars on this list, the West has seven – Doncic, Booker, SGA, Murray, Fox, Morant (if he can get his head screwed on) and Sabonis. The East? Two. Tatum and Mitchell.
More:OKC Thunder: Kobe Bufkin, Cason Wallace among guards to consider in NBA Draft
Mailbag: Cincinnati history
My series on the University of Cincinnati entering the Big 12 drew a lot of response from UC fans, naturally, including this from the vice president of a Cincinnati company.
John: “I enjoyed reading your feature on UC/Cincinnati on-line. You did a great job in capturing the vibe of the university/city very well. Nippert (Stadium) is a fantastic football venue …small by Big 12 standards but the noise level can be deafening. We’re definitely ‘different’ from the other Big 12 schools, and outside of WVU certainly don’t have much, if any, athletic history/rivalry with the core membership. So it will be an interesting time of transition to see what type of rivalries develop. One minor correction I would like to point out. Cincinnati (the city) was founded in 1788, not 1819 as you stated, so there’s three decades of additional history to be absorbed. Ohio didn’t become a state until 1803. Keep up the good work. Looking forward to Big 12 fans getting a chance to come here for a visit in the coming years and discover what makes this area special.”
Tramel: Great note. I appreciate it. It also gives me a chance to combine two passions – football and history.
Let me say, I spend a lot more time these days on football than I do history. Those days, too. Any days, even when I was a history major.
Anyway, when I went with Cincinnati’s founding of 1819, I was using the incorporation date. Cincinnati sits on the north side of the confluences of the Ohio and Licking rivers. It first was settled in 1788.
Makes me think of my dad’s hometown, Salina, in Mayes County, some 55 miles east of Tulsa. Salina is considered by some the oldest white settlement in Oklahoma.
In 1796, Frenchman Jean Pierre Chouteau established a trading post at the junction of the Grand River and Saline Creek.
The Grand has been dammed to form a variety of Oklahoma lakes, including Lake Hudson, which sits hard by Salina.
Saline Creek is a gorgeous tributary. My aunt still lives in a house on Saline Creek. They call it a creek in eastern Oklahoma. Here in central Oklahoma, we would call it a river and put a bridge over it.
Anyway, John’s note reminded me that we’ve got some extensive history ourself. And that Cincinnati’s history is vast.
When I think of Cincinnati’s early days, I think of the great scenes from “How The West Was Won,” and the river action as Karl Malden’s family journeys west via raft.
Nobody’s getting on a raft anymore, but man, it’s going to be fun to go to Cincinnati for football games.
Berry Tramel: Berry can be reached at 405-760-8080 or at [email protected]. He can be heard Monday through Friday from 4:40-5:20 p.m. on The Sports Animal radio network, including FM-98.1. Support his work and that of other Oklahoman journalists by purchasing a digital subscription today.