Why Getting to a Bowl Game, by Beating Oklahoma State First, is Now ‘a Big Deal’ for Oklahoma

NORMAN — Oklahoma followers don’t need to hear about their workforce going to a minor bowl sport.

But going to a bowl — any bowl — beats not going to one.

That’s the place Oklahoma finds itself 10 video games into the 2022 season: mired within the muck of a 5-5 season, with large video games left in opposition to Oklahoma State this wee and Texas Tech subsequent week. Win one, and the Sooners turn out to be bowl eligible with six wins. Win them each, and a 7-5 season — with the prospect of an 8-win season with a victory within the bowl sport — is potential.

And that’s it. After 2 1/2 months of soccer, that’s the ceiling for Brent Venables’ first workforce.

“Certainly that’s important,” mentioned defensive coordinator Ted Roof. “It’s a big deal.”

There are numerous ranges of huge.

One, Oklahoma has a streak of 23 consecutive years with a successful document. Only Boise State’s 24 is longer. Nobody in Norman desires that to finish — particularly on Venables’ first watch.

Two, the Sooners’ present bowl streak that started in 1999 additionally stands at 23 straight — two beneath Georgia’s 25 in a row.

And three — and this one could be debated — is that ending a season robust and getting to the postseason and successful a bowl sport can create momentum for the next season.

Big 12 Bowl Ties

Here are the bowl ties for the Big 12 Conference in 2022:

• College Football Playoff
• Allstate Sugar Bowl
• Valero Alamo Bowl
• Cheez-It Bowl
• TaxAct Texas Bowl
• AutoZone Liberty Bowl
• Guaranteed Rate Bowl
• Lockheed Martin Armed Forces Bowl or SERVPRO First Responder Bowl 

Looking again, beating a lame duck Oregon workforce within the Alamo Bowl final December didn’t precisely create a ton of momentum for the Sooners in 2022, did it?

The actual prize, in fact, is getting to apply in December. The NCAA permits 15 additional practices for groups that attain a bowl sport — and this Oklahoma workforce clearly wants as a lot apply as it may possibly get.

“The importance of playing in a bowl game, there are a lot of things that go into that,” OU offensive coordinator Jeff Lebby mentioned Monday. “But with a first-year staff, obviously, I think the biggest thing is more time with our guys. That’s the first thing that comes to mind.”

“It’d be critical, you know?” mentioned defensive coordinator Ted Roof “Absolutely. Because those reps are — man, those reps are like gold for everybody. But especially the young players, who — it helps them launch from a different point for the offseason, as opposed to launch it from here, those additional reps allows them to launch from here. And that’s that’s a critical thing.”

Of course, Oklahoma State stands in the way in which first. The ’22 Bedlam sport kicks off at 6:30 p.m. on nationwide tv, and the Sooners opened Monday as a 5.5-point favourite — a line that rapidly moved to 7.

“It’s incredibly important we go 1-0 this week,” Lebby mentioned.” Find a means to get it carried out on Saturday is one thing we’d like to have occur.”

“We do have to finish strong,” Roof echoed, “but we got this one this week and that’s Bedlam and everything associated with that. That’s the focus, is playing well enough to win this game — plan our our best to win this game.”

As for momentum, Venables identified final week that OU misplaced its final sport to Ole Miss within the Independence Bowl in Bob Stoops’ rookie season again in 1999, however then went 13-0 the next 12 months.

But this Oklahoma workforce sits on a two-game dropping streak. Stumbling down the stretch to a 6-6 document wouldn’t be good for any notion of momentum, particularly in the event that they lose the bowl sport and find yourself 6-7. Even going 7-5 isn’t notably good if the tip end result is 7-6.

Of course, thanks to Saturday’s 23-20 loss at West Virginia, the specter of 5-7 looms over the workforce now as effectively.

“When you play well during the year and you win at the end of the year, you carry momentum into your offseason program,” Roof mentioned. “It carries momentum into recruiting, into the offseason program, spring ball, all the things. You want to end anything on a good note and not a negative outcome.”