The college football offseason is almost over as we are halfway through July. The season will get going in about a month and a half, and college football fans everywhere are eager for the new beginning. College football fever is rampant across the country as we get closer to the season, but also because of the new EA Sports NCAA 25 video game that just came out last Monday. All in all, it’s an exciting time to be a college football fan, and one fan base that is excited for the season is Oklahoma football fans. The Sooners have a big season ahead of them.
This college football season is going to be a big one for a number of reasons. The sport is going through big changes, and some of those changes are going to be seen for the first time this season. Let’s take a look at what some of them are.
First off, there are going to be some new rules seen this year in college football, and some fans aren’t really in favor of them. Perhaps the biggest change is the addition of the two-minute warning. Fans have already started getting sick at all of the commercials that are happening in today’s era of college football, and the two-minute warning is another way for tv networks to get more commercial times in.
The bigger changes, however, come with conference realignment and the expanded College Football Playoff. College football is going to look completely different next year because of those two things. California schools playing in the Atlantic Coast Conference? Yeah, things are changing.
Conference realignment has shaken things up big time in college football. The power five is no longer a thing as the Pac-12 is essentially dead. Every team left for a new conference except for Oregon State and Washington State. Those two teams have scheduling alliances with the Mountain West.
Every other Pac-12 school found a new home. Utah, Colorado, Arizona and Arizona State are now in the Big 12. Oregon, Oregon State, USC and UCLA joined the Big Ten. Lastly, Cal and Stanford joined the ACC (makes a ton of sense, right?).
The other big change with conferences comes in the SEC. Oklahoma and Texas are both leaving the Big 12 and they will join the SEC. The Big Ten and the SEC are loaded with good teams and seem on the verge of forming two super conferences.
This season, we will also see 12 teams make the College Football Playoff. For about a month, the College Football Playoff will be happening. Some people aren’t in favor of the big expansion, but there will be more marquee college football games, and it’s hard to be too upset about that.
All in all, this is going to be one of the biggest college football seasons of all time. The game is changing, and this is the start of a new era.
Oklahoma football is hoping for another strong year
All eyes will be on Oklahoma football this season as they are one of the strongest programs that is making a move to a new conference. The Sooners are joining rival Texas in the SEC as both programs are moving on from the Big 12. However, the Longhorns are getting a lot more attention about their move than Oklahoma is. Both teams had good years in the Big 12 last year, and the Sooners actually won the matchup between the two, but it is Texas that is expected to have a big 2024 campaign in the SEC.
After Oklahoma beat Texas last year, it looked like the Sooners were going to coast to the Big 12 title game and likely have a rematch with the Longhorns with a College Football Playoff spot on the line. Their toughest games were behind them, and they were undefeated. However, the Sooners stumbled twice in games that they were expected to win, and they finished the regular season 10-2, missing the Big 12 title game.
Oklahoma football went on to lose in the Alamo Bowl against Arizona to end the season, and they finished with a 10-3 overall record. The season had a ton of promise after that win against Texas, but the Sooners kind of fell apart to close the year, and now they don't have a ton of momentum heading into this crucial first year in the SEC.
Not a lot of people are expecting the Sooners to compete in the SEC this year, but they could end proving some folks wrong. Here are three predictions for their 2024 campaign.
Oklahoma football will miss a bowl game
Unfortunately for Oklahoma football, this could end up being a tough year. The Sooners lost to some teams last year that would likely not do a very good job in the SEC, and they lost their best offensive player in quarterback Dillon Gabriel, who is the current favorite to win the Heisman. This is not a good year for Oklahoma to be breaking in a young, inexperienced QB, and that is exactly what they will be doing this year. Jackson Arnold was a five-star recruit, but it will take some time adjusting to SEC football.
Oklahoma football will go 5-7
Oklahoma will play Texas, Ole Miss, Missouri, Alabama and LSU this season. Expect all five of those games to be losses. Would it be surprising if the Sooners won one or more of those? No, but it certainly wouldn't be surprising if they lost them all. They also have to play Tennessee and at Auburn. Those two should be easier games, but those are also still going to be tough matchups. Life in the SEC is challenging, and Oklahoma is going to learn the hard way in year one.
Jackson Arnold will struggle early, then find his groove
Once Jackson Arnold gets acclimated, he will probably be a good QB for the Sooners. However, a big reason why that 5-7 prediction is there is because of how the schedule plays out. The Tennessee and Auburn games are early in the season, and that is when Arnold might struggle. Those are the first two SEC games that he will play. Then, those five really tough ones are later in the year. He'll be playing better at that point, but those teams are just flat out better than Oklahoma. If the Sooners played Tennessee and Auburn later in the year, it would be easier to pick them to win.
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