If Oklahoma’s current slide keeps going, 2026 could join a short, miserable list of seasons Sooners fans would rather erase.
That standard in Norman is brutal. Anything short of a banner can feel like a letdown. But not every year that falls shy of a championship belongs in the same conversation, and some seasons deserve a harsher label than others.
The clearest example is 2009. Even with the injury caveat hanging over it, Oklahoma entered that season with national title expectations and still ended up taking a painful step back.
Jermaine Gresham went down in fall camp with a torn ACL, and Sam Bradford, the returning Heisman Trophy winner, separated his shoulder before halftime of the opener. Bradford came back a few weeks later, helped OU beat Baylor in Norman, then saw his season end in the first quarter of the next game in the Cotton Bowl.
The Sooners still had plenty to work with. The defense was championship-caliber, posting three shutouts and holding three other opponents to 10 points or fewer.
DeMarco Murray and Chris Brown re-formed a dangerous backfield tandem. But even after Oklahoma steadied itself behind Landry Jones, the 8-5 finish was a hard reality check for a team built to chase much bigger things.
There was another disappointment in 1976, though it looked different. Oklahoma had gone 43-2-1 since 1971, and under Chuck Fairbanks and Barry Switzer in 1973, the program had stacked up two Sugar Bowls, three Big Eight titles and two national championships. The Sooners entered 1976 ranked in the top five despite losing some major names from those title teams.
Then the warning signs started showing up. OU tied Texas in the Cotton Bowl after beating the Longhorns five straight times.
A few weeks later, Oklahoma State came to Norman and beat the Sooners for the first time in 10 seasons. Switzer’s team then lost at Colorado.
By the end, Colorado, Oklahoma State and Oklahoma shared the Big Eight title, and the Sooners closed the year with a Fiesta Bowl win over Wyoming.
Brent Venables also already has one season on this kind of list, and there’s a chance he could have two by Christmas.
The 2022 season came with a built-in adjustment period after a new head coach arrived and Caleb Williams transferred away before becoming a Heisman Trophy winner. Even so, expectations were still high. Oklahoma had talent, Venables had a reputation as a defensive fixer, and the schedule looked manageable on paper.
Instead, the Sooners opened conference play with a home loss to Kansas State, then got blown out 55-24 by eventual national runner-up TCU. In the Cotton Bowl, they were on the wrong end of a 49-0 loss to Texas, a result no other Sooners team had ever suffered in that rivalry. The misery kept rolling with losses to Baylor, West Virginia and Texas Tech, all games Oklahoma had every reason to expect to win, before the year ended with another defeat against Florida State in the Cheez-It Bowl.
Howard Schnellenberger’s lone season in Norman belongs here too, even if the expectations around it were different. The first-year coach made sure nobody missed his arrival, saying, "Books will be written and movies will be made," when he was hired.
Oklahoma did start 3-0 and earned a prime-time ESPN spot against Colorado, but that night went badly, with the Sooners losing 38-17. They later tied Texas in a game marked by multiple missed field goals, including a potential winner, and Kansas hammered them in Norman. OU dropped its final three games and finished 5-5-1.
Books were written, just not about Schnellenberger’s Oklahoma run.
In Other News...
Oklahomas QB Debate Is Starting To Feel Impossible To Ignore
John Mateers rocky start this season has turned Oklahomas quarterback situation into one of the most watched storylines around the program. With eight touchdowns, four interceptions and a quarterback rating that has not matched expectations, the frustration has spilled over into the stands and online, where some Sooners fans are already calling for a change under center.
Whitt Newbauer is the name drawing the most attention as a possible alternative, thanks to the size, arm strength and ball placement that helped make the Mercer transfer an intriguing option. But the question is whether his limited experience would hold up against SEC pass rushers, and no official decision has been made as Oklahoma weighs whether to stick with Mateer or try something different. [Read more 🡒]
Oklahomas Offensive Struggles Come Down To One Frustrating Issue
Oklahomas offense has spent the early part of the season fighting through the kind of mistakes that usually snowball on a young unit. Turnovers from quarterback John Mateer have put the Sooners behind the chains, and the issues up front have only made things tougher, especially with a running game that has not been able to consistently get going.
Rocky Beers pointed to miscommunication among players as a major reason the offense has looked out of sync, with blocking assignments at the center of the problem. Even so, he sounded confident the Sooners can clean it up if the execution sharpens and the communication gets better, which is the kind of fix Oklahoma needs before the frustration turns into something bigger. [Read more 🡒]
Porter Mosers Most Intriguing Oklahoma Roster Is Finally Taking Shape
Official practice for Oklahoma mens basketball is underway, and Porter Moser is finally getting a first real look at what could be one of the more fascinating rosters he has assembled in Norman. The Sooners bring back four veterans, including starters Xzayvier Brown and Derrion Reid, while layering in a major influx of new faces with eight transfers and two freshmen. It is a group built to look and play differently, with more options, more versatility and a much deeper talent pool than the one Oklahoma had to rely on last season.
The most noticeable changes are at the spots Moser has been trying to fortify for months, especially size, depth and perimeter shooting. Duke Brennan arrives from Villanova to help address the frontcourt, while guards B. J. Edwards, Pop Isaacs and Tyler Hendricks give Oklahoma a much different backcourt mix. Early practice is only the beginning, but with so many newcomers in the room, the Sooners finally have the kind of roster that can start answering a lot of questions in a hurry. [Read more 🡒]