Can the Oklahoma Sooners pull off an undefeated regular season?
The Oklahoma Sooners haven’t gone undefeated entering the Big 12 Championship game since 2004. Every season in the last 16 years the Sooners have had a slip-up either in non-conference (like Houston and Ohio State in 2016) or in Big 12 play that’s left them with one or more losses entering the Big 12 Championship in seasons they were able to make it.
As they prepare for what could be a run at a seventh straight Big 12 Championship, the College Football Playoff, and a national championship, the Sooners must avoid a regular-season slip up along the way.
Ranked third in the USA TODAY AFCA Coaches Poll with just a few weeks until their regular-season opener at Tulane, Kerry Miller of Bleacher Report puts the odds that the Sooners will enter the Big 12 championship without a blemish on their ledger at 9-2. A $100 bet on a 9-2 payout would get you $450.
The problem with putting any faith in Oklahoma to actually pull off an undefeated season is its annoying propensity for losing to unranked opponents.
The Sooners suffered two such losses early last season, including a stunning home loss to Kansas State that might make even less sense now than it did at the time. They also lost at Kansas State in 2019 and lost a home game to Iowa State in 2017.
So while it’s tempting to say Oklahoma should have no problem at least carrying a 5-0 record into the showdown with Texas, those preceding games against West Virginia and Kansas State seem to have “Lucy holding the football for Charlie Brown” written all over them. – Miller
The Sooners will have to figure out a way to avoid a conference letdown. They need to bounce back against a Kansas State team that they haven’t beaten in two seasons. Iowa State looks like the Sooners toughest competition for the Big 12 title. Texas should be good again and the Red River Shootout is always a tough matchup regardless of the records.
Miller’s not alone in his skepticism. The national observers seem to sit around waiting for the Sooners to have a letdown against a Big 12 squad. This is as good a squad as Lincoln Riley’s had in his tenure with the Oklahoma Sooners and OU needs to take advantage of it. The time is now to make a run and that starts with a clean regular-season record.
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Big 12 storylines for every team heading into 2021
