Oklahoma Football: Our Preseason Predictions for 2022

With the home opener for the Oklahoma Sooners on the horizon, four member of our writing staff are here to give their preseason predictions for OU’s schedule as well as the Big 12 title race.

Allen Kenney

Oklahoma’s record

UTEP - W

Kent State - W

@ Nebraska - L

Kansas State - W

@ TCU - W

Texas - L

Kansas - W

@ Iowa St. - W

Baylor - W

@ West Virginia - W

Oklahoma State - W

@ Texas Tech - W

Regular season: 10-2

Big 12 standings

OU: 8-1

Texas: 6-3

Baylor: 6-3

Kansas St.: 5-4

Oklahoma St.: 5-4

TCU: 4-5

Iowa St.: 4-5

Texas Tech: 3-6

WVU: 3-6

Kansas: 1-8

Allen’s explanation: I see this OU team winning 10 games in the regular season. Frankly, it wouldn’t surprise me if you told me at the end of the year that the Sooners lost to two out of about seven opponents. I picked Nebraska and Texas as the two here, however, because both of those programs desperately need to beat OU this year. (Admittedly, even desperation may not be enough for the psyche of the Cornhuskers after last weekend’s disappointing loss in Ireland.)

As for the rest of the Big 12, I have the Sooners getting revenge on Texas in the Big 12 championship game - the Longhorns win the tiebreaker nod for second place in the standings by beating Baylor in the season finale.

Chisholm Holland

Oklahoma’s record

UTEP - W

Kent State - W

@ Nebraska - W

Kansas State - W

@ TCU - W

Texas - W

Kansas - W

@ Iowa St. - W

Baylor - L

@ West Virginia - W

Oklahoma State - W

@ Texas Tech - W

Regular season: 11-1

Big 12 standings

OU: 8-1

Baylor: 8-1

Kansas St.: 7-2

Oklahoma St.: 7-2

TCU: 4-5

Texas Tech: 4-5

Texas: 3-6

WVU: 2-7

Iowa St.: 1-8

Kansas: 0-9

Chisholm’s explanation: Look, I am not the guy who tries to shock you. My predictions are always going to be “chalk” unless I feel really really strong one way or the other. The Sooners have the most talent, an offseason that is all momentum, and positioned themselves to run away from every team in this conference besides OSU and Baylor. Those will be the two big games. Sooners 11-1 and likely have a decent chance at the CFP... which I think they would get run off the field in. Just my opinion, couple of years away from having a real chance to win two games against Ohio State, Georgia, and Alabama.

The rest of the Big 12 I found there are four tiers. Tier 1: OSU, OU, and Baylor. Tier 2: Kansas State. Tier 3: TCU, Texas, and Tech. Tier 4: WVU, Kansas, Iowa State. The haves and the have nots. I have no BOLD takes on this conference slate other than I think Kansas State doesn’t have a chance to win the Big 12. I think they are firmly the fourth best team with a large gap between them and the top three. Also, there are a ton of fun non conference games this year in the Big 12.

Stephen Brown

Oklahoma’s record

UTEP - W

Kent State - W

@ Nebraska - W

Kansas State - L

@ TCU - W

Texas - W

Kansas - W

@ Iowa St. - W

Baylor - L

@ West Virginia - W

Oklahoma State - W

@ Texas Tech - W

Regular Season: 10-2

Big 12 Standings

OU: 7-2

Baylor: 7-2

Texas: 6-3

Kansas St: 6-3

Oklahoma State: 5-4

Iowa State: 4-5

TCU: 4-5

Texas Tech: 3-6

WVU: 3-6

Kansas: 1-8

Stephen’s explanation: For a first-year head coach, Brent Venables has a more than manageable schedule ahead of him. I do think the Sooners will have some growing pains along the way which is why I have circled Kansas St. and Baylor as Oklahoma’s two losses. The reasoning behind this is both the Wildcats and the Bears are two very disciplined teams and both programs return key pieces on the defensive side of the ball. As for the conference championship, I have an Oklahoma and Baylor rematch with the Sooners coming out on top and are once again the Big 12 Champs.

Kamiar Mehrabian

Oklahoma’s record

UTEP - W

Kent State - W

@ Nebraska - W

Kansas State - W

@ TCU - W

Texas - W

Kansas - W

@ Iowa St. - W

Baylor - L

@ West Virginia - W

Oklahoma State - W

@ Texas Tech - W

Regular Season: 11-1

Big 12 Standings

OU: 8-1

Kansas St: 7-2

Baylor: 7-2

Texas: 6-3

Oklahoma State: 5-4

TCU: 5-4

Iowa State: 4-5

Texas Tech: 3-6

WVU: 3-6

Kansas: 1-8

Kamiar’s explanation: Brent is a first year head coach, but has done nothing but win championships where’s been. He worked his tail off at a JUCO to get to Kansas State under Bill Snyder, who built a monster out of a program that many suggested should just fold prior to Snyder’s arrival. Venables is authentic, hard-working, and intentional as coaches come, but also understands what it takes to make teams go from good to great. The Sooners are benefitting from their schedule having some of their most significant games of the season at home, but I also believe everybody should particularly circle the Nebraska game as a measuring stick. Oklahoma still has the second best recruited talent in the conference with a new mentality (Texas is always no. 1, but we’ve seen what they do with it), but with the installation of a new offense, defense, off-season coaching shifts, and other moving parts, I still expect them to struggle in games this season with learning curves. Regardless, anywhere around 9-10 wins is a success for this team after such a turbulent offseason.