NORMAN - Brent Venables sees a college football landscape where the old pecking order keeps getting shaken up, and he doesn’t think that trend is slowing down anytime soon.
With SEC teams moving past the middle stretch of conference play, the championship race has gotten crowded in a way that seemed unlikely before the season started. No team is unbeaten in league games, and 10 teams still have two or fewer losses.
“I think there’s more belief that everybody can beat everybody,” Oklahoma coach Brent Venables said. “I think that part of it is without question.
There’s just too much evidence. It’s not theory.
There’s just too much evidence, certainly in just our conference, let alone college football.”
Oklahoma is part of that jumble at 2-2 in SEC play. The Sooners’ losses to Michigan, Georgia and Kentucky have put their College Football Playoff chances on life support, but they are still hanging on.
The conference has already produced a pile of results that show just how unstable things are. Seven unranked teams have beaten ranked opponents in SEC play this season, and Florida has experienced both sides of that equation.
The Gators lost to South Carolina when they were ranked No. 16, then later knocked off No. 7 Texas after sliding out of the Associated Press poll.
Five of those upsets came against top-10 teams.
That’s a major shift from last season, when SEC play produced only one result like that: unranked Florida’s 29-21 win over No. 9 Texas in early October.
The chaos hasn’t been limited to the SEC. Last week, unranked UCF beat No.
2 BYU and Cincinnati took down No. 8 Texas Tech.
Earlier this season, Oklahoma State knocked off No. 6 Oregon.
For Venables, the answer is not to reinvent the weekly grind. The challenge, he said, is the same one coaches always face: keeping players locked in, honest about who they are, and ready to respond to whatever comes next.
“You want your guys to stay engaged, have a great self-awareness, understand what our strengths are, what our weaknesses are, what we need to continue to work at to get better,” Venables said, “and keeping your guys hungry and motivated and together has always been the challenge of coaching and being in the locker room. But everybody is dealing with the same set of challenges.
Handling success and failure both is like it’s always been. It’s incredibly important.
Well-managed success leads to continued success, and well-managed failure, same thing.”
And with the College Football Playoff expanding to 24 teams next season, Venables believes the door is opening wider for more programs to stay in the hunt.
“I like it in college football,” Venables said. “I think it’s exciting, and I think everybody has a little bit of hope through the new environment.
… There’s probably several fan bases and programs that are transitioning to that new environment, where for decades and decades the parity wasn’t certainly there. And the blue bloods, if you will, I don’t know if those days are over or not.
I don’t think that they are, but I do think that there’s the exciting thing about maybe a year from now is that there’s going to be more opportunity and access to having an opportunity to play in the postseason and win it all.”
In Other News...
Oklahoma May Need Caleb Nitta Sooner Than Anyone Expected
Oklahomas injury situation has quickly turned the lead-up to South Carolina into a test of depth, especially up front. The availability report lists 15 Sooners, and with Ryan Fodje and Eddy Pierre-Louis ruled out while Heath Ozaeta is expected back, the attention has shifted to the center spot, where Jake Maikkula is questionable after getting hurt.
If Maikkula cant go, Caleb Nitta could be called on earlier than the Sooners would like, and the staff seems comfortable with what they have behind him. Offensive coordinator Ben Arbuckle has praised Nittas preparation and intelligence, the sort of trust that matters most when the offensive line is being reshuffled on short notice. For a team already juggling injuries, the biggest concern now is whether Oklahoma can keep the middle of the line steady enough to avoid forcing even more adjustments. [Read more 🡒]
Oklahoma Heads Into South Carolina With Key Spots Still In Flux
Oklahomas depth chart still has a few moving parts heading into Saturdays 3:15 p.m. matchup with South Carolina, with three starters listed as questionable on the latest SEC availability report. Jake Maikkula, Peyton Bowen and Eli Bowen all remain in flux, leaving the Sooners with some uncertainty in the lineup as they prepare for a conference road test on SEC Network.
The report also showed several other Oklahoma players spread across the out, doubtful and probable categories, adding another layer of uncertainty for a team trying to get settled before kickoff. With key spots still up in the air, the Sooners will be watching the availability list closely right up until game time. [Read more 🡒]
Bixby Gets Its Biggest Test Yet With District Title On The Line
Undefeated Bixby and undefeated Broken Arrow are set to meet Friday in a showdown that should feel like more than just a district game. The winner takes the District 6AI-1 title, and with both teams sitting inside the top three of the High School On SI Oklahoma Top 25, the matchup has the kind of weight that usually comes with playoff football in November, not a regular-season finale.
Broken Arrow brings a dangerous offense led by quarterback Shamar Banner, a University of Tulsa commit, while Bixby answers with a roster that includes several Division I commitments of its own. For the Spartans, this is a chance to protect their No. 1 spot and add another statement win to a season that has rolled along without a blemish, but Broken Arrow has every reason to believe it belongs on the same stage. [Read more 🡒]