Oklahoma enters 2026 with a familiar setup: the preseason numbers are respectable, the ceiling looks higher, and the Sooners have already shown they can turn a modest projection into something much bigger.
In the SEC preseason poll released by media members at conference media days, Oklahoma landed seventh. That puts Brent Venables’ team behind Georgia, Texas, Ole Miss, Texas A&M, LSU and Alabama, though two voters still picked the Sooners to win the league.
That kind of placement feels a little safer than what Oklahoma dealt with a year ago. The Sooners were pegged to finish 10th in the conference last season, then went out and played like a team determined to blow up the script. They finished 6-2 in SEC play and punched their way back to the College Football Playoff, fueled in part by huge road wins at Tennessee and Alabama.
Even after losing important defensive pieces, Oklahoma still shows up in the poll with plenty of recognition for what it has coming back. Defensive linemen David Stone and Taylor Wein were both named to the Preseason All-SEC Second Team, along with linebacker Kip Lewis and defensive backs Peyton Bowen and Eli Bowen.
Lewis was Oklahoma’s tackle leader last season with 76, and he added 10.5 tackles for loss and four sacks. Stone led the defensive line with 42 tackles, plus eight tackles for loss, 1.5 sacks and six quarterback hurries. Wein posted 39 tackles, including 15 tackles for loss, seven sacks and six quarterback hurries.
Eli Bowen already has a track record in the league, after earning All-SEC Third Team honors a year ago. Peyton Bowen was a 2025 All-SEC Second Team selection.
Oklahoma’s second-team honors didn’t stop on defense. Receiver Isaiah Sategna and sophomore offensive lineman Michael Fasusi also made the Second Team.
Special teams got plenty of love as well. Kicker Tate Sandell was voted to the All-SEC First Team after winning the Lou Groza Award last year, while longsnapper Ben Anderson also earned first-team honors. Punter Grayson Miller landed on the second team.
The league’s top tier in the poll had Georgia at No. 1, with Texas right behind. Tennessee came in eighth, followed by Florida, Missouri, South Carolina, Auburn, Vanderbilt, Kentucky, Mississippi State and Arkansas.
The Sooners will get an immediate read on where they stand. Their first two conference games come against the preseason favorites, Georgia and Texas. After those trips to Athens and the Cotton Bowl, Oklahoma will host Kentucky and first-year head coach Will Stein before heading to Starkville to face former offensive coordinator Jeff Lebby’s Mississippi State team.
Later in the schedule, Oklahoma will see another familiar face when South Carolina and Shane Beamer come to Norman on Halloween. The Sooners then travel to The Swamp to play Florida on Nov. 7 before returning home for Ole Miss and Texas A&M, both of which reached the CFP last year. Oklahoma will finish the regular season on the road at Missouri.
Before all of that, the Sooners open 2026 at home on Friday, Sept. 4 against UTEP. A week later, they travel to Michigan on Sept. 12, then wrap up the non-conference slate against New Mexico on Sept. 19 before SEC play begins in Georgia.
In Other News...
Kirby Smart Just Sent Brent Venables A Message Sooners Fans Will Feel
Gentry Williams move from Oklahoma to Georgia adds another layer to a secondary storyline that has been building all offseason for Brent Venables. After four years in Venables defense, the former Sooners cornerback arrives in Athens with the kind of experience Kirby Smart values, and Smart made a point of praising what players learn in that system. For Oklahoma, it is another reminder that Venables defensive reputation extends well beyond Norman, even when it means one of his own former players ends up helping a national title contender.
The timing matters for the Sooners because cornerback depth was already a concern after multiple departures through the transfer portal. Venables has answered by bringing in new help and leaning on younger players, but the room still has a different feel than it did a year ago. Williams transfer to Georgia only sharpens the contrast: one program is adding a seasoned defender who knows how to play within a demanding scheme, while Oklahoma is still sorting out how its rebuilt cornerback group will hold up once the real competition begins. [Read more 🡒]
Jim Nagys First Oklahoma Surprise Hits At A Bigger Sooners Concern
Oklahomas move into a more professional front-office model has already changed the way the program operates, with a general manager and scouting department helping navigate the NIL and transfer-portal era. For Jim Nagy, the adjustment has not just been about evaluating talent and roster building. It has also meant dealing with a college football landscape where money is now part of everyday conversation, and where keeping a team aligned depends as much on structure as it does on personnel.
Nagys early read on the job points to a bigger concern for the Sooners than just recruiting rankings or roster turnover. The program knows the financial side of the sport can create friction if standards slip, so the emphasis has been on culture and accountability to keep differences from becoming divisions. In a sport where players are more aware than ever of what others are making, Oklahoma is trying to make sure the locker room still feels like one team. [Read more 🡒]
Courtland Guillory Is Entering A Massive SEC Conversation For Oklahoma
Oklahomas secondary already has one of the better young cornerback tandems in the league, and Courtland Guillory has quickly become a big part of why. He and Eli Bowen both arrived with freshman All-American honors, and Guillory turned that early promise into a starting role last season, holding onto it even after Bowen returned from injury.
The on-field production backed up the rise, with Guillory finishing with 41 tackles, a tackle for loss and seven pass deflections. That kind of season is what has some national observers starting to talk about him in a much bigger SEC context, including the possibility that he enters 2026 as one of the conferences top defensive backs. [Read more 🡒]