Sooner football schedule full of landmines
Studying the 2009 Big 12 Conference football schedule, I was struck by just how difficult OU’s assignment is.
The Sooners play seven games I would term losable. That’s seven opponents that would seem to have a legit chance to beat Oklahoma. Some would need to play really well, some would need some help from OU and some will stand toe-to-toe with the Sooners.
Some can dream about impossible upsets, but the truth is, Idaho State, Tulsa, Kansas State, Texas A&M and Baylor are just not physically able to compete with OU right now. But that leaves seven opponents that can at least hang in there: BYU, Miami, Texas, Kansas, Nebraska, Texas Tech and OSU.
Of those seven foes, only one comes to Norman. That’s OSU for Bedlam. The other six games are away from Norman — Brigham Young and Texas in Greater Dallas, the others on the road, starting with Miami and then L-city cubed: Lawrence, Lincoln and Lubbock.
OU plays this rotation of the schedule once every four years, starting with 1997, so this is the fourth time since the formation of the Big 12. The Sooners never have swept the KU/Nebraska/Tech trio in road-game years. They went 1-2 in 1997 (beating Tech), 2-1 in 2001 (losing at Nebraska) and 1-1 in 2005 (losing at Tech and beating KU in Kansas City).
Texas and OSU have much easier road schedules. The Cowboys play only four games away from Stillwater: Texas A&M, Baylor, Iowa State and OU. Texas plays six games away from Austin: Wyoming, OU in Dallas, Missouri, OSU, Baylor and A&M.
The Sooners are virtually unbeatable at home: Bob Stoops is 60-2 at Owen Field, losing to OSU in ’01 and TCU in ’05. But away from Norman, the Sooners are 49-22 under Stoops, which while still being a fine record isn’t juggernaut status. Stoops is 26-8 in Big 12 road games (not counting neutral sites). That’s an excellent record but doesn’t indicate the Sooners will roll everyone no matter where they play.
One scheduling item in OU’s favor is that it plays neither of its chief rivals for the Big 12 South title — Texas and OSU — on their campus. OSU comes to Norman, and OU gets Texas in Dallas. OSU has to go to Norman, and Texas has to go to Stillwater.
But those six games away from Norman, six of the seven toughest games the Sooners play, will be landmines set to derail OU’s championship hopes.
-------------Berry Tramel can be heard Monday through Friday from 4:40-5:20 p.m. on The Sports Animal radio network, including AM-640 and FM-98.1. You can e-mail him here and follow him on Twitter @BerryTramel. Visit Berry's website here.
If you enjoyed this post, please consider to leave a comment or subscribe to the feed and get future articles delivered to your feed reader.
Comments
very easy schedule really. since when are byu miami kansas or osu any good? ttech with new qb and wr also questionable!
Why 1-1 in the KU/Nebraska/Tech series in 2005. I know I remember watching the Sooners beat the Huskers in Lincon from a Dave and Busters in Providence, RI. But I checked, just to be sure and OU records indicate a win in Lincoln on Oct. 29, 2005.
Sooners do have their work cut out for them. BYU is legit, Miami is now legit as well. 2 legit to quit.
@stoupe: The Jayhawks are picked by many to win the Big 12 North and have been strong at home in recent years, compiling a 14-2 mark in its last 16 games in Lawrence. That doesn’t include a win over Mizzou at Arrowhead last year.
In its past 30 games, KU is 23-7. Compared to OU’s past 30, that might not be impressive, but this year’s game is in Lawrence, and the Jayhawks played OU as close as anyone in Norman a year ago.
Sure glad UO fans are so sure of their team. Its not every day that fans can experience the joy of victory and the sorrow of defeat, especially at the end of the year.
Barry, Like your column. Hate your picture, why don’t you change it so my kids can go back to the playground with out fear.
Mr Tramel,
While I applaud OU for scheduling a tough line-up of foes away from Norman, I am sorely disappointed in the schedule of home games this year. OSU might be a competitive game, but typically the Cowboys are summarily spanked in Norman. Other than OSU, the home slate appears to be a monumental bust. I have already purchased our 2009 season tickets, but frankly, I may very well stay home most of those weekends and watch a marquee game on TV. Idaho State, c’mon OU surely we can do better than this for the home fans.
Dane
with the upcoming season, the only gripe i have is with idaho state,come on who put them on the list. yea i know its a home game in norman, and oklahoma should have the game in hand by halftime. and all the ou fans will leave with a smile on there trouncing of idaho state. this should have not been on the schedule from the beginninng, guess a.d joe put them on the easy list and a W for a ou win. yep byu will be a contender for ou in dallas and i will be there as well for the opener and hopefully jerry boy will not be on the ou-sidelines coaching for bob stoops that would be embarrassing for ou-fans. with sam,jermaine,trent,gerald coming back for there leadership and encouragement oklahoma will be even better and go for there 4th straight big-12 title and move on toothe national title as well. but first one game at a time. thats my two cents-ou-johnny in texas. and on trammel, only in oklahoma-barry as well.
Yes, Nebraska and OSU haven’t been very good lately, so of COURSE they’ll be cakewalks this year, too! Ignore what people who study the game think. Just keep your heads in the sand and don’t pay attention to anything outside of Norman, squats. This is going to be a hilarious year of reading on the OU football boards.
Since Stoops banked on Going into this seasons schedule as NCm’s to
motivate the team, he failed,..again. He has never been a coach to prepare
a team for the rigors of the road. Think about this, after losing to Lester
Miles..TWO YEARS..in a row when he was favored, once at home, the schedule
was changed to play OSU at the top of the schedule, in Sept. or early Oct.
Why, because Stoops can’t get his team through the Big 12 and play a good
OSU team at the end and take a chance on losing. Stoops would never
make a good Big 8 coach at OU. Good thing we had Barry for Neb. The God
Father has Pow’a, Joe C.
Nebraska is probably a year away from beating OU, but it will be a competitive game, and they may win. Bo Pelini has been rebuilding Nebraska and they won 9 games and went to a bowl in his first full year. Nebraska will resume running the Big 12 North and things will return to the way they should be….NU and OU competing for the Big 12 every year.
Good article Berry. Those of you who bash Berry sure do seem to sit around waiting for an article to appear so you can bash him. I think the correct statement for you is, “Get a life.”
Husker fans!!!!I think Bo has still got a ways to go, but I do believe he’s heading in the right direction. KU will win the North this year and then by the year after, MU will be back and maybe even CU. And don’t forget about Bill Snyder. I think ISU is the only guaranteed cupcake in the North.
This is OU’s year to WIN IT ALL. Mark it down. It’s a done deal folks.
BYI might be a game, Miami would finish between 6-9 in the Big 12. Last year OU’s schedule was a perfect set up for them. Just like OSU’s schedule is this year. It happens for every Big 12 team every few years. Just happens to be OUs time.
Landmines, indeed. That with the question mark about this year’s offensive line trouble me about this season. The defense should be awesome and that may be enough. My crystal ball is not as bright and rosy as others here, but we’ll see. As the saying goes, “that’s why they play the games.” Good luck, Sooners.
Sounds like an exciting year! Don’t get me wrong, I like a 65 – 21 game as much as the next fan….but I also enjoy games where the outcome is not decided by halftime. Being on the edge of your seat once in awhile isn’t such a bad thing. In fact, not being in enough dogfights last year, hurt OU against Florida…
OU will probably lose three games this year. Texas, the bowl game, and one of those road games. OU has lost 3 of the last 4 to Texas, 5 of its last 6 bowl games, and has lost a conference road game 2 of the last 4 years.
The bowl-game loss is almost a lock, as Bob Stoops has either forgotten how, or no longer cares, to prepare his team for a game in January.
yep…