One of the two newcomers to the SEC, Oklahoma, is looking to be all about first impressions heading into 2024. Historically, the Sooners have some sort of history with most of the teams they will be playing in conference play this season, but now they are a part of the same one.
With returners on the defensive side of the ball including star linebacker Danny Stutsman, Oklahoma heads into this season looking to build an identity of defensive prowess under head coach Brent Venables. Star recruit Jackson Arnold will be playing his first full season as a starter for the Sooners, and a solid backfield led by Gavin Sawchuk will be crucial to his development, and controlling time of possession with this stout defense.
But the SEC is a completely different animal than the BIG 12 was, Oklahoma will have to go into the toughest environments in the country and try to come out on top, but they have the coaching and talent to have a good first season in SEC play. They come into this season ranked as the 16th-best team in the nation, but will that ranking hold up? And are they contenders for the College Football Playoff
Which games will Oklahoma Football lose in 2024?
Ole Miss
The Oklahoma Sooners get to this point after impressive SEC wins against Tennessee, Auburn, Texas, and South Carolina to start their season 7-0, but the Ole Miss Rebels will be where this undefeated run comes to an end.
With a ton of returning talent on offense, Ole Miss is ready to roll in the SEC this season, and they get the advantage of being at home for this matchup. Oklahoma’s defense will be put to the test, and with their strength being in their front seven, Jaxson Dart will look to continue a Heisman push with a nice day against this Oklahoma defense.
The Sooners get outclassed here, and they will have to find a way to rebound in a brutal back half of their schedule against some teams ranked in the top 15.
Missouri
The Missouri Tigers will be playing this game against Oklahoma after a tough road matchup against Alabama. They will either be riding the high of taking down one of the best teams in the nation or will need to rebound after a very difficult loss. Either way, that is a tough time to be playing such a great team, especially on the road.
Brady Cook and Luther Burden III are going to be one of the most dynamic quarterback and receiver duos in the entire nation, which will be tough for the Sooners to get through. They get the advantage of a midseason tune-up game against Maine at home, but they still fall to the Tigers here in this game.
The Sooners will have suffered their second loss of the season at this point, and then have to take on two teams that could very well find themselves in the top three of the entire SEC.
Alabama
Sooner fans will be bringing up the iconic 2014 Sugar Bowl where Oklahoma’s defense starred against a great Alabama squad. And with a defense as stout as this year’s Oklahoma team, they will definitely be giving the Tide a great game in the Palace.
But realistically, this game will look a bit more like the 2018 Orange Bowl in the College Football Playoff, the Sooners will be competitive, but Alabama is still Alabama even under new head coach Kalen DeBoer. While Oklahoma has a prime opportunity to keep their Playoff hopes alive in this one, they just do not have the offensive capabilities to take down a team as great as Alabama at this moment.
The Tide led by Jalen Milroe are going to be very well coached and in need of a win to push toward the Playoff. It is just a tough machine that the Sooners will be running into, and this would be their second loss in a row at this point.
LSU
The Oklahoma Sooners will have to view flashbacks of another Playoff loss with the 2019 Peach Bowl in the College Football Playoff. And unfortunately, this is not the year where that loss gets avenged. The Sooners have to roll into Death Valley in an attempt to get one more win to end their season, but the Tigers just have too much going for them here.
Now it all depends on how great Garrett Nussmeier is, but if he is as solid as advertised, then the Sooners will not be coming out on top here. The stars of last season are gone, but LSU has done a great job of replacing talent recently, and the same rings true for this season. And depending on how well LSU does in their own season, the Tigers could have Playoff stakes on the line.
This is just not in the cards for Oklahoma, and they end their season on a three-game losing streak to some of the toughest teams in the nation.
Four losses are disappointing but leave the Sooners with a lot to build on
Oklahoma may have a bit of a tougher welcome to the SEC than Texas will, but if these are their only losses, they have plenty to hold their hats on. A four-loss season in the SEC can still mean they end the season in the Top 25, and with Venables looking to build a program, these are the seasons where you establish a culture.
There are also still questions as to how great Arnold is in his first true season leading the Sooners, if he ends up as great as some of the Heisman quarterbacks Lincoln Riley brought around, then a few of these games will likely be flipped to favor Oklahoma. But with all we know now, it seems that this will be an average season for the newcomers of the SEC.