Oklahoma is in a tough situation, but should be celebrated for it regardless of outcome

For a decade college football has undergone changes that has dramatically changed how the game is played. Or more accurately, how these programs build their rosters. NIL and the transfer portal have been huge changes. As we are seeing currently, there are a handful of teams no one would’ve expected to be contenders ten years ago (ie Indiana and Vanderbilt). Each year under the college football playoff, some team will be left out that felt they should’ve made it. The first reaction is to demand playoff field expansion. However, Oklahoma is giving spectators a glimpse into what the next change should be. Scheduling.

In any year, even during the BCS era, the motivation has been to maximize the metrics that improve higher seeding through advantageous scheduling.  Whether it’s just the win/loss record, quality wins, or margin of victory there have been metrics that led to the notion of creating a great path for success by limiting the games that present challenges. While teams have been chasing perfection, many aspects have suffered. Unexpected outcomes and inconsistent performance due to a well-established approach to scheduling.

Colorado head coach Deion Sanders addressed this on Shannon Sharpe’s Club Shay Shay in 2023. Using the example of Alabama State traveling to play UCLA, Sanders outlined exactly how much it doesn’t benefit the smaller school. Yes, those schools often receive a big paycheck, but often the amount paid for the game ends up being less than the operating costs to get the team out to that game. Sanders was asked about HBCUs playing say Georgia as an example. It’s rarely beneficial to the lower team. It’s a tune up game for big programs and an illusion that it benefits lower-level programs.

“I did a study and I showed it. We even tweeted it out. You had Alabama State going out to, do the numbers, to play UCLA. And UCLA requested the band. That’s two chartered flights. Let’s do a modest number of three hundred thousand. Now that’s $600,000. Then you need to stay there for a couple days. So, let’s do hotel accommodations as well as food. So, you’re really at a million dollars at least. I think the purse was like 650. You can’t look at it like it’s a prize to play UCLA. You can’t look at it like that. Sooner or later, you have to put your business hat on and say we have to do business.”  

Sanders’ point addresses the financial aspect that often leads to the lower-level program losing in multiple areas. Lose money, get run off the field score wise, and if the lower-level team gets demolished, how good could the recruiting bump be? As Sharpe said in that back and forth, “You in a financial deficit just to get beat by 50?!” The concept is a nice idea if it worked as intended and benefited the lesser program.

College football would be better overall if contenders scheduled like the 2025 Sooners

Look around the national landscape and you’ll see this play out all over the board. Most big programs thought to have title aspirations only play a few great teams each season. Each of those Power 4 title contenders will play ranked opponents because of the conferences they play in. However, most will only see 2-4 ranked opponents based on the randomness of the landscape years ago when the schedules were made vs the reality of the season, we’re currently in. Oklahoma, however, is giving fans a glimpse into what a better situation would look like.

Oklahoma has a schedule that should scare contenders. Considering rankings either at the beginning of the season or now, Oklahoma was set to face 9 ranked opponents and only two games deemed less than. They started the season against Illinois State and Kent State. After that, there isn’t a cupcake on the schedule. Michigan, Auburn, Texas, South Carolina, Ole Miss, Tennessee, Alabama, Missouri and LSU all at some point in the season were nationally ranked Power 4 teams. Oklahoma is currently 6-2 and 2-2 in conference. Considering the conference they play in, they are all but mathematically eliminated from playoff and SEC contention.

The 2025 Sooners have maybe the toughest schedule any of us have seen in a while and they should be celebrated for it. It is unlikely they will come out of this as a playoff team but consider the landscape if most of the top 25 teams played a schedule like Oklahoma. Image what the records, the games, the outcomes would look like if every top team intentionally scheduled mostly top-rated programs. Would anyone still be undefeated? Highly unlikely. By the end of the regular season, the best team in the country might be lucky to be 10-2. A nine seed could have four losses. The benefit to this is no one would be confused about who the best team in the country is. If a team was ranked 12^th in the nation, we would know exactly why that is and there would be no confusion about where they sit.

Oklahoma’s entire schedule reads like a murderer’s row when compared to a typical schedule. Under the metrics of the current system, they will not be rewarded for it. If anything, they will be punished by the current system. What Oklahoma is doing should not only be studied, but it should also be revered in college football. Especially in a landscape where most teams have 2-3 quality games and 6-7 games everyone expects them to win anyway.

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