The honeymoon period is officially over for Oklahoma football.
After surviving its first two seasons in the SEC, and building on that momentum with a 10-3 campaign and a trip to the College Football Playoff in 2025, Brent Venables and the Sooners now face a challenge unlike anything they’ve seen since arriving in college football’s toughest conference. Oklahoma’s 2026 schedule is a relentless, 12-game grind that features road trips to Michigan, Georgia and Florida, the annual Red River Rivalry against Texas, and an unforgiving November slate that ESPN’s Football Power Index ranks among the most difficult in the country.
In fact, according to ESPN’s preseason metrics, Oklahoma enters the season with the second-toughest schedule in all of college football. There are no easy stretches, very few opportunities to recover from losses and almost no margin for error for a team with championship aspirations.
From the opening kickoff against UTEP on Sept. 4 to the regular-season finale at Missouri on Nov. 28, Team 132 will have to earn every victory.
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