It’s finally here for No. 15 Oklahoma.
After all the excitement and waiting, the Sooners will play their first Southeastern Conference game on Saturday night against No. 6 Tennessee.
“It’s huge,” Oklahoma coach Brent Venables said. “I mean, this is a historical moment for this university and certainly the football program and all the athletic programs here at the university.
So to be a part of that is really special, and again, the vision is it’s going to take us to a place that’s been the elite conference in all of college football. We’re taking an elite program and making it even stronger. And so we’re looking forward to an amazing, strong partnership.”
The Sooners are stepping into a tough situation. Tennessee has outscored its opponents 191-13 this season, which is the largest point difference in SEC history after three games and the second-most by any FBS team since the AP Top 25 began in 1936.
Tennessee just came off a 71-0 victory over Kent State. The Volunteers were so dominant that they offered to use a running clock in the second half, but Kent State declined.
Tennessee is just the first of many challenging teams the Sooners will face in their new conference. They will also play No. 1 Texas, No. 5 Ole Miss, No. 7 Missouri, and No. 16 LSU.
“I’m looking forward to the challenge,” Venables said. “And you know, the vision is for the end result is to have amazing success. Even through the headwinds that are ahead.
I’m not naive to what that looks like either. And so navigating that as a head coach is a tremendous responsibility, a great honor, something I’m thankful for.”
