I reserve the right to still be skeptical considering we got up to #7 last year before falling off a cliff and missing the tournament.

Of course I have to be a little easy on the criticism because I just have no idea how you even survive coaching college basketball anymore as it's even worse than CFB with NIL and the early draft entry issues.

I’m an Aggie and was in middle school when this bash took place. Somewhere around 2008 or 2009, I went with a buddy to buy clothes at Goodwill in North Texas for some reason- probably school project related. Picked this puppy up. Been with me since. OU still sucks, but this is still cool as shit.

Hoping someone might taste some nostalgia and share a story.

Dear Sooner Family –

As you are well aware, college athletics has been in the midst of vast transformation in the past several years, most of which has centered around the professionalization of football. In the spirit of our 130-year tradition of excellence in OU Athletics, we will continue to be at the forefront of these changes, remaining innovative, nimble, and ready to leverage the opportunity offered by both our entry into the SEC and the current collegiate athletics landscape. Now, more than ever, we are focused on how we can adapt to the current environment in ways that enable us to win at the highest level in all our programs. As we continue to evaluate and plan, I’d like to take this moment to inform you on where we are currently and how we plan to meet this moment to best position OU’s championship-caliber athletics programs for success.

Under the terms of the preliminary settlement for the House vs. NCAA class action lawsuit, we will be sharing revenue with many OU student-athletes. We are prepared to share the maximum allowable revenues with our athletes. Under the settlement, this means a baseline total of approximately $20.5 million in additional, annual costs for OU Athletics.

Notwithstanding these substantial new financial commitments to our student-athletes, OU Athletics remains steadfast in our commitment to all 21 of our sports and to proudly remain one of the few collegiate athletics programs that is economically self-sustaining, resulting in no student or public dollars contributing to the athletics enterprise. Our expectation, once the settlement is approved, is that we will be offering substantially more aid to our student-athletes because the proposed settlement would eliminate limits for athletics scholarships and instead set roster sizes for each sport. An additional impact of the settlement will be the contributions to funding the backpay financial damages required by the House settlement. I am confident we are ready to meet these challenges.

Our move to the SEC lands us in undoubtedly the most competitive conference in college athletics – a platform we have sought for all our student-athletes and programs to shine, and for our university to tell its story on a broader stage. Membership in the SEC also puts us in a much stronger financial position. Part of our financial planning will redeploy select resources to meet new demands, and we also will continue to invest in models that harness the force of Sooner Athletics to drive greater revenues and keep us on our fixed course of fielding winning programs. We are actively pursuing financial strategies to underwrite the increased expenses, aggressively exploring all new revenue-generation opportunities, and continuing to build on the generosity of our passionate donors, supporters, and fans.

The most successful major college athletics programs will be dynamic and innovative and draw from resources outside of those traditionally accessed in amateur athletics. To that end, we are engaging long-time OU friend and supporter, Randall Stephenson, to help counsel and guide our efforts. Randall, a proud OU alumnus, has proven the ability to navigate major industries through significant disruption, like college athletics faces now. He served as chairman and CEO of AT&T from 2007-2020 and led the Fortune Five company through tectonic changes in multiple sectors. He also led and oversaw many new approaches to sports programming, media rights, and sponsorships. Under his leadership, AT&T and its subsidiaries, working with its media partners, changed how America engaged with many of the world’s premier sports brands, including pioneering programming such as the NFL Sunday Ticket on DirecTV, the NFL Red Zone, NBA on TNT, MLB Playoffs, and NCAA March Madness on Turner networks. With Randall’s direction, AT&T executed sponsorships of some of America’s most iconic events, venues, and athletes, including The College Football Playoff, AT&T Stadium, Jordan Spieth, and Tiger Woods.

In addition to his time at AT&T, Randall brings much knowledge in sports policy and business, having served on the policy board for the PGA Tour from 2012-2023 during a time of considerable change surrounding men’s professional golf, where he focused significantly on the operational challenges of the tour and helped make significant professional, complex executive decisions. He also served as the 37th President of the Boy Scouts of America from 2016-2018.

Randall, who has refused compensation, will serve as Executive Advisor to the President and the Athletics Director, working closely with President Harroz, Coach Venables, the athletics department, and me. He will help guide us into restructuring our budget for this new world of college sports and into developing a football structure with elements similar to professional sports teams. This includes building out a more expansive General Manager function and developing a dynamic model that will allow OU Football to become a national gold-standard around talent acquisition, portal management, and player development. College athletics remains unique, but adaptations that draw upon the professional model are necessary to compete at the highest level. As part of Randall’s work, he also will make recommendations for funding player compensation and offer insights into pioneering governance models and athletics structures that will set up OU Athletics for success far into the future.

If finalized this spring, the House settlement will not solve the complexities of the current open transfer portal system or other open legal questions related to college athletics. For now, these are challenges that still require solving. However, we are constantly mindful of our role as stewards of a significant and distinct piece of the Oklahoman and American culture of college athletics. Change is constant, and we will always rise to meet new challenges so that we sustain our championship excellence. We are steadfast in our dedication to our student-athletes, our commitment to providing them with a life-changing first-class education, our promise to maintain the tradition of exciting and competitive athletics found at OU, and our role in molding young adults into amazing human beings who proudly take us with them in their new ventures.

Thank you, as always, for your support of our programs and student-athletes. We could not do what we do without your continued investment in us. You help us create Sooner Magic every day.

Boomer!

This just came out of curiosity but do graduate students also get student season tickets like undergrad students? I am thinking about going to grad school at OU and I just want to know if I would still be able to get student season tickets since I’m technically still a student at OU. (Getting tickets is not a deal breaker for me, I am just genuinely curious 😅).

I’m a very casual fan when it comes to the recruiting side of OU football so I apologize if this is a dumb question but can someone explain why it feels like I see in the headlines frequently that another recruit has decommited from OU? Is this normal in college football and many other programs constantly have decommits? Is there something unique about what we’re going through right now where we’re having more than normal? Any insight would be helpful.

What has Ben Arbuckle done to deserve the job? 2 mediocre seasons at Washington, a couple of years as co off. Coordinator at western Kentucky, nothing impressive their either. Before that, he was an assistant high-school coach? Am I missing something? Air raid style offense won't work in the SEC, so what does he bring to the table?

Edit: I've learned from this post that we hired him to get his QB. Not based on any accomplishment of the coach but to get a QB who can score a lot of points against Portland, SJSU, and other shitty teams. Let's hope it works, but this hire has me moving to the fire BV camp.

Good info here.

https://www.amarillo.com/story/sports/college/football/2024/12/02/3-things-to-know-about-new-oklahoma-offensive-coordinator-ben-arbuckle-canadian-wildcats-wtamu-buffs/76697380007/

Hi y’all, I’m gonna be at OU in the fall and I want to rush. What are some of the better frats on campus and what is the culture like? I come from an Aggie family and frat life at A and M is a lot different than at other places because of the barn system. Any insight would be well appreciated.

Long story short I’ll be in OKC for a business trip. I’ll be flying in Saturday and looking for a solid place to watch the game. Anyone got any advice?

Would love it to be a pro duck atmosphere but I’ll take any good sports bar

I’m going to OU in the fall and I love to hunt and fish. I’ve found a bunch of public land spots in the state that I would love to hunt. The only thing I’m worried about is being able to have my guns, gear, and rods/tackle with me while I’m in an on campus dorm. I’m from 7 hours away from campus so keeping everything at home isn’t an option for me. Does anyone know a solution for what I can do as far as storage goes? Thank y’all.

Remember with how well he was recruiting?z people were afraid that he might get poached by other programs. Now with one bad season it’s all over? Hopefully, this isn’t a case of us losing a guy all because of mistakes from the top. He has a lot of high school connections in Texas.

Wishing y'all luck in the discount tire-liberty-gasparilla-toilet bowl, don't be too jealous when we win the SEC.

- Every Longhorn fan

Don't get me wrong that game was extremely fun to watch but it was an anomaly. All that game did was make this team look not as bad as we are and gave us a bowl game. Now it makes it harder for anyone to justify making any major changes to this team, which we need.

... to hopefully get a little momentum with recruiting.

ESPN’s analysts believe the Sooners will end up in either the Gasparilla Bowl vs. Virginia Tech or the Independence Bowl vs. West Virginia.

at least we made a bowl. Maybe the OC is announced Monday to provide hope again.

This is that state of our program in year three. Absolutely terrible as a whole. Even our defense played terrible. It's just sad how far we've fallen under BV.

I get having to fill the TE position. But never, ever let him touch the ball.

i’m trying to get a danny stutsman jersey as a gift for someone in christmas and want the jersey to have the right patches on it, like the sec patch and all that. is there any place i can’t get one that looks like that?

Guess it's business as usual.

Game: Oklahoma Sooners [6—5] vs LSU [7-4]

Date and Time: Nov 30th, 2024 @ 6:00PM CST

Where: Tiger Stadium - Baton Rouge, LA

Coverage: ESPN ESPN Predictor: LSU, 59.3%

Boomer Sooner, go OU! ❤️🤍❤️🤍🏈

Is there a place where OU fans are hanging out before the game? We're driving in from New Orleans.

Does anyone have a copy of the KJ103 OU/TX parody song "Stoops There It Is" that they could send me? We are trying to contact the DJs, but I thought one of you might have it. Thanks!

It’s Gameday baby! BOOMER!

...to end the season on a positive note. I hope the same defense that held BAMA to 3 points shows up tonight.