College Football

2024 Oklahoma football predictions: Ranked No. 11 by RJ Young

Updated Aug. 12, 2024 10:23 a.m. ET

FOX Sports National College Football Analyst

[Check out RJ Young's ultimate 134 college football rankings here]

Conference ranking: 6th in SEC (+3000 to win conference)
Teams ahead of them: Missouri (10), Alabama (9), Michigan (8), LSU (7), Ole Miss (6)
Teams behind them: Utah (12), Tennessee (13), Penn State (14), Oklahoma State (15), Notre Dame (16)

[Oklahoma 2024 schedule]

RJ's take: Oklahoma steps into the SEC getting everything it wants: to play in the best league in the South, at 2:30 p.m. CT, against the best that the South has to offer. However, their 2023 opponents went 96-59. Seven were ranked. Eight had ranked wins.

Never mind that just three of those SEC games will be played in Norman, and they'll play four of the best teams in the SEC on the road. That cuts like Gavin Sawchuck on a set of hot skates on a brick of butter because OU is 49-9 at home over the last nine years.

But in Oklahoma it ain't about winning 10 games like they did in their first 12 last season. It's about winning championships: the SEC, the national title and waving both at Lincoln Riley. Just don't remind Okies that Riley made three CFPs in his first four years while Venables has yet to coach them to anything better than attempting to defend the Alamo, which has historically been a losing proposition.

That chip there on Oklahoma’s shoulder is a state they ain't allowed to let down. We hunt the crown and do it with talent. I believe Billy Bowman to be one of the best free safeties in the country, and he showed that last year. In 2008, Ohio State DB Malcolm Jenkins accounted for 57 tackles and 3 INTs in 2008 on a team that finished 10-3. Jenkins won the Thorpe Award and a 96 rating in NCAA '09. Oklahoma DB Billy Bowman had 63 tackles, 6 INTs and 3 TDs on a team that finished 10-3. I rate Bowman a 98. And he's got talisman Danny Stutsman back in the middle of the defense, and will be joined by freshman defensive tackle David Stone, who might end the season as SEC Defensive Freshman of the Year.

Oklahoma Win Total Odds: Over 7.5 (-120) Under 7.5 (+100)

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