Oklahoma may have had one of the most memorable wins of the college football regular season against Alabama, but the Sooners’ SEC debut was as forgettable as it gets. As it pertains to year two in Norman in OU’s new conference compared to year one, “It Just Means More.”
USA Today’s Matt Hayes believes Oklahoma has a chance to contend for the College Football Playoff – and transfer portal addition John Mateer, a QB from Washington State who comes with former Cougars offensive coordinator Ben Arbuckle, is the reason that’s realistic.
Mateer is coming with a rebuilt receiver room.
“John Mateer, the difference between an ugly first season in the SEC, and a CFP run in 2025. The transfer quarterback from Washington State was the No. 1 player in the transfer portal, and is a dynamic dual threat (44 total TDs). The Sooners couldn’t get first downs in 2024; they’ll score in bunches with Mateer and transfer wideout Isaiah Stegna (Arkansas), and high-volume Championship Subdivision transfer receivers Keontez Lewis and Javonnie Gibson,” Hayes wrote.
The Sooners’ 2025 season always comes with OU’s difficult schedule caveat. That was something Hayes filed under “what’s not good.”
“The schedule is brutal. If we go by the 2024 model, it will be very difficult for a three-loss, non-Power Four conference champion to reach the CFP. Sooners get Mississippi and LSU in Norman, but have road trips to Alabama, Tennessee and South Carolina, and the Texas game in Dallas. Oklahoma also plays Michigan in Norman,” Hayes wrote.
In all, the Sooners’ schedule is a problem, but from the looks of it, Oklahoma will also be a problem on their opponents’ slates.