Mike: Expect a 9-3 Sooners repeat
I can happily say that I underestimated Coach Brent Venables and the Oklahoma Sooners last year.
I predicted an 8-4 regular season finish in 2025. The Sooners finished 10-2, beating Alabama and Tennessee on the road and LSU at home – outcomes I had not thought possible this time last year.
John Mateer’s mid-season thumb injury had me thinking I was going to be right. I was wrong.
So, will the OU overachieving last year impact my predictions for 2026? Let’s see.
Game by game:
The Easy Non-Conference games: UTEP and New Mexico. Count them as wins. No need to discuss.
The Difficult Non-Conference game: At Michigan’s Big House. This is the third largest stadium in the world. And the Wolverines are hoping to avenge a loss in Norman last year. A very talented QB … has a year’s experience under his belt. Oklahoma won last year 24-13. This will be a tight one, but Michigan’s best unit (offense) is going against OU’s best unit (defense). And I’ll take the Sooners in that scenario every time.
Sooners end stellar season with 34-24 loss to ‘Bama in college football playoff
Alabama overcame a 17-point deficit late in the second quarter to shift momentum from an Oklahoma team that appeared on a verge of a blow out. The Crimson Tide then never let go, spoiling the Sooners’ first college football playoff game ever played in Norman, 34-24.
It was a mirror of the regular season game between the two blue blood programs played in Tuscaloosa on November 15, when Oklahoma capitalized on three Crimson Tide turnovers to win 23-21
But this time it was Oklahoma’s miscues that allowed Alabama to tie the game up right before the half, going on a 27-point unanswered run by the third quarter’s end, and fending off a fourth quarter surge by the Sooners.
“When we needed to, we couldn’t pull one out like we have several other games this year,” Coach Brent Venables said in his post-game press conference.
Oklahoma scored on three of its first four possessions. QB John Mateer’s athletic ability shined in an 8-yard touchdown run. Tate Sandell scored on a 51-yard field goal. Then Mateer connected with Isaiah Sategna for a 7-yard touchdown pass in the second quarter — giving the Sooners a 17-0 lead.