They haven't had too much reason to be impatient over the past 55 years or so at Oklahoma, but once it becomes apparent the football coach isn't cutting it, the Sooners haven't wasted time switching jockeys. Indeed, as soon as things went sour on Gary Gibbs, and more immediately with Howard Schnellenberger and John Blake, the cigars at Oklahoma were quick to hit the eject button. That makes one wonder if the current collection of suits in Norman might soon be thinking the same sorts of things about Brent Venables, whose first Sooner campaign undershot expectations as much as the latest Terminator flick. The low bar of bowl qualification doesn't mean as much these days, especially when you lose in the postseason (as OU did vs. Florida State in the Cheez-It Bowl).
That dropped Venables Year One to sub-.500 at 6-7, sacrilege in Norman and a first for the Sooners since the infamous Blake era. The season included lopsided losses to TCU and Texas, each of which looked like they could have scored 70 or 80 points (especially the Horned Frogs) if they had wished. Worse, Oklahoma would finish unranked for the first time since 2014 and just the fourth time this century. With a much-publicized move to the tougher neighborhood of the SEC on deck in 2024, some regional sources suggest that Venables might want to show significant improvement with this year if he wants to stick around for OU's upcoming new adventure. Whatever honeymoon Venables might have had in Norman ended after the Texas debacle...
Bruce Marshall's full breakdown of Oklahoma's 2023 outlook, which includes how he's playing their win total, can be found below as part of SportsLine's preview of the Big 12 season.
Big 12 preview: Conference winner | Baylor | BYU | Cincinnati | Houston | Iowa State | Kansas | Kansas State | Oklahoma | Oklahoma State | Texas | TCU | Texas Tech | UCF | West Virginia
What do you need to know about Oklahoma before locking in your Big 12 futures bets? And which side of their win total makes for the best play? ... Join SportsLine right now to see Big 12 futures betting strategy from a veteran college football expert!
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