Global InformationList of Oklahoma Sooners football seasons information
The Oklahoma Sooners college football team compete as part of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division I Football Bowl Subdivision, representing the University of Oklahoma in the Big 12 Conference. Oklahoma has played their home games at Oklahoma Memorial Stadium in Norman, Oklahoma since 1923.[1]
The Sooners claim seven national championships. They have also recorded 50 conference championships,[2] 12 undefeated and untied regular seasons,[a][3] and the longest winning streak in Division I history with 47 straight victories. The Oklahoma football program is one of the most successful programs in history, having won 944 games[4] and possessing a .725 winning percentage,[5] both sixth all time. As of the end of the 2022 season, Oklahoma has appeared in the AP poll 882 times,[6] including 101 No. 1 rankings,[7] both third all time.
Football was introduced to the university by John A. Harts in 1895. Harts, a student from Kansas who had played the game in his home state,[8] presided over a single game, a loss to a more experienced team from the Oklahoma City High School.[9] The university had its first paid coach in Vernon Louis Parrington, who led the Sooners to a record of nine wins, one loss, and two ties over four seasons.[10] Hired in 1905, Bennie Owen brought Oklahoma to the national stage during his 22-year tenure as head coach. He retired with a 122–54–16 record, including four seasons in which the team went unbeaten.[11] During Owen's tenure, Oklahoma became a charter member of the Southwest Conference, in which they remained for five years before leaving to join the Missouri Valley Intercollegiate Athletic Association.[12] The MVIAA conference would later transform into the Big Six, Big Seven, and finally the Big Eight Conference.
In 1947, Oklahoma promoted Bud Wilkinson, then an assistant coach, to head coach.[13] Wilkinson led the Sooners to national championships in 1950, 1955 and 1956,[14] as well as a stretch of 47 consecutive victories that began in 1953 and ended in 1957.[15] Wilkinson's tenure included a streak of 13 consecutive conference championships (in addition to one by his predecessor).[2] After 17 seasons at the helm, Wilkinson retired with a 145–29–4 record.[14]
Oklahoma continued to perform well after Wilkinson left, but only returned to the national title picture following the promotion of Barry Switzer to head coach in 1973. The Sooners won the Big Eight in each of his first eight years as coach and earned national championships in 1974 and 1975.[16] Switzer added Oklahoma's sixth national championship in 1985 and bested Wilkinson's school record for victories by a coach, stepping down prior to the 1989 season with a 157–29–4 record.[16]
After a decline that lasted more than a decade, Oklahoma again won the national championship in 2000, after coach Bob Stoops had been hired the previous year.[17] By then Oklahoma had joined a new conference, the Big 12 Conference, formed as a combination of the Big Eight Conference and four Texas schools of the defunct Southwest Conference.[18] Stoops coached 239 games during his time at Oklahoma, winning 191 of them. Both figures are the most of any coach in school history.[19] Stoops won ten conference championships[17] and led the Sooners to the BCS National Championship Game four times. However, 2000 remains Oklahoma's most recent championship game victory. Lincoln Riley, who succeeded Stoops as coach in 2017, took the Sooners to the College Football Playoff four times, losing in the semifinal round on each occasion. Following Riley's departure, current head coach Brent Venables was appointed to the position.
Through the 2023 season, Oklahoma has compiled an overall record of 944 wins, 341 losses, and 53 ties. The Sooners have appeared in 57 bowl games,[20] most recently in the 2023 Alamo Bowl, with 31 bowl victories, 25 losses and 1 tie in their history.
- ^ "Oklahoma Memorial Stadium History". SoonerStats.com. Archived from the original on August 9, 2007. Retrieved September 13, 2009.
- ^ a b "Conference Titles". SoonerSports. Archived from the original on October 2, 2022. Retrieved September 28, 2022.
- ^ "Football Bowl Subdivision Records" (PDF). NCAA. pp. 179–180. Archived (PDF) from the original on May 16, 2022. Retrieved October 4, 2022.
- ^ "All-Time Wins". Winsipedia. Archived from the original on February 9, 2023. Retrieved February 9, 2023.
- ^ "All-Time Record (Winning %)". Winsipedia. Archived from the original on February 9, 2023. Retrieved February 9, 2023.
- ^ "Weeks in Poll". Winsipedia. Archived from the original on February 9, 2023. Retrieved February 9, 2023.
- ^ "Weeks at AP No. 1". Winsipedia. Archived from the original on February 9, 2023. Retrieved February 9, 2023.
- ^ Keith, Harold (September 1942). "Football Ups and Downs". Sooner Magazine. Vol. 15, no. 1. pp. 12–13, 54. Retrieved September 25, 2022.
- ^ Hume, C. Ross (November 1936). "Football myths". Sooner Magazine. Vol. 9, no. 2. pp. 36–37. Retrieved September 25, 2022.
- ^ "Vernon Parrington". SoonerStats.com. Archived from the original on February 13, 2023. Retrieved February 13, 2023.
- ^ "Bennie Owen". SoonerStats.com. Archived from the original on February 13, 2023. Retrieved February 13, 2023.
- ^ Dozier, Ray (2006). Moyer, Susan (ed.). The Oklahoma Football Encyclopedia. Champaign, IL: Sports Publishing, L.L.C. pp. 24–31. ISBN 978-1-58261-699-5.
- ^ Cross, George Lynn (September 1977). Presidents Can't Punt: The OU Football Tradition. Norman, Oklahoma: University of Oklahoma Press. ISBN 0-8061-1419-3.
- ^ a b "Bud Wilkinson". SoonerStats.com. Archived from the original on March 25, 2023. Retrieved February 13, 2023.
- ^ "OU football tradition – 47 game winning streak". SoonerSports. Archived from the original on June 27, 2010. Retrieved June 27, 2010.
- ^ a b "Barry Switzer". SoonerStats.com. Archived from the original on March 25, 2023. Retrieved February 13, 2023.
- ^ a b "Bob Stoops". SoonerStats.com. Archived from the original on February 13, 2023. Retrieved February 13, 2023.
- ^ Moran, Malcolm (August 25, 1996). "Despite Complications, Big 12 Is Instant Commercial Hit". The New York Times. Archived from the original on January 23, 2014. Retrieved September 14, 2009.
- ^ "Football Head Coaches". SoonerStats.com. Archived from the original on February 13, 2023. Retrieved February 13, 2023.
- ^ "Bowl Games". Winsipedia. Archived from the original on February 13, 2023. Retrieved February 13, 2023.
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