The Oklahoma Sooners’ first season under Brent Venables failed to live up to the lofty expectations the program has set for itself in recent years. Was that a sign of things to come or just a bad season with a return to form to follow in 2023? Our Oklahoma season predictions provide some relief for Sooners supporters.
Oklahoma Season Predictions: Predicting the Game-By-Game Results
Using groupthink, College Football Network analysts have painstakingly gone through every game for every team in the Big 12 and across the country.
Find every Big 12 Season Prediction per team: Baylor | BYU | UCF | Cincinnati | Houston | Iowa State | Kansas | Kansas State | Oklahoma | Oklahoma State | TCU | Texas | Texas Tech | West Virginia
Picking these games straight up with a projected score using the rosters as up-to-date as the last spring practice, the Oklahoma season predictions indicate what fans can possibly expect for the Sooners in 2023.
Week 1 – Oklahoma vs. Arkansas State: Win, 45-12
Oklahoma has never lost to a current Sun Belt team, and holds a 2-0 record against Arkansas State. A defense that allowed over 30 points per game on average should allow the Sooners to get their eye in on offense, with the returning Dillon Gabriel set to be one of the top quarterbacks in the Big 12 even as he faces a quarterback battle with incoming freshman Jackson Arnold.
Week 2 – Oklahoma vs. SMU: Win, 33-23
Former Oklahoma quarterback Tanner Mordecai is no longer the spearhead of the SMU offense following his transfer to Wisconsin. That could have a dramatic impact on the scoring potential of the Mustangs’ offense, especially against a Sooners’ defense that boasts an impressive young linebacker group while adding an impactful edge presence in Rondell Bothroyd.
Week 3 – Oklahoma @ Tulsa: Win, 40-15
Oklahoma ends their out-of-conference schedule with a visit to Tulsa, where they face a Golden Hurricane team that hasn’t played the Sooners close in each of their last nine meetings. The departure of Davis Brin means it’s Braylon Braxton’s team to lead, and while he has the talent to keep the Sooners honest, the defense might not be able to absorb their own departures.
Week 4 – Oklahoma @ Cincinnati: Win, 39-19
The first Big 12 test for Venables’ team comes with a Week 4 road trip to the Cincinnati Bearcats. While it’s never wise to underestimate the former Group of Five powerhouse, changes both on and off the field are set to make their first season in the Big 12 a somewhat challenging affair. Oklahoma easily has the defense to keep the Emory Jones-led Bearcats under 20 points.
Week 5 – Oklahoma vs. Iowa State: Win, 38-27
Two of Iowa State’s seven total wins over Oklahoma have come in the last seven seasons. However, the Cyclones don’t have the feel of previous teams that challenged the Sooners atop the Big 12. Oklahoma appears to have an advantage wherever you look on the field, with the offense boasting more than enough weapons to overcome Hunter Dekkers and Co. in Norman.
Week 6 – Oklahoma vs. Texas: Loss, 38-42
Don’t expect the 2023 edition of the Red River Rivalry to be as one-sided as 12 months ago. Texas’ shutout last season wasn’t typical of one of the greatest rivalry games in all of sport, and the Sooners will be gunning for revenge in the final Big 12 edition. Although our Oklahoma season predictions forecast a closer game, Texas has the talent to shade their bitter rivals.
Week 8 – Oklahoma vs. UCF: Win, 37-21
Week 8 of the 2023 college football schedule gives us a great storyline to focus on as former UCF quarterback Gabriel welcomes his former team to Norman for a first-ever matchup between the two teams. The Knights were extremely active in the transfer portal, but they had to be after losing some of their top talent this fall. That loss of talent could prove critical here.
Week 9 – Oklahoma @ Kansas: Win, 33-22
You have to go back to 1997 to find the last time that Kansas beat Oklahoma. While there’s an expectation that the Jayhawks can continue the development that saw them capture the national imagination in their first season under Lance Leipold, the defensive improvements that we’re expecting from the Sooners this season might limit their scoring potential.
Week 10 – Oklahoma @ Oklahoma State: Win, 39-19
Oklahoma State has put up less than 20 points against the Sooners in three out of the last four editions of the “Bedlam” rivalry game. With uncertainty under center at this stage in the preseason, it’s difficult to imagine Mike Gundy’s Cowboys team bucking that trend—even with home-field advantage.
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Like many of their matchups in the 2023 college football campaign, Oklahoma has an advantage across multiple position groupings. Venables’ team opens their November stretch with an important win in their battle to reach the Big 12 title game.
Week 11 – Oklahoma vs. West Virginia: Win, 32-23
There’s a tough season in store for the West Virginia Mountaineers in 2023, with one of the toughest schedules in college football. It doesn’t get any easier in Week 11 when they pay a visit to Norman where they haven’t won since 1982. Neal Brown’s team took advantage of a poor Sooners’ team last year, but Oklahoma has too much talent to succumb to the same fate.
Week 12 – Oklahoma @ BYU: Win, 35-23
The Sooners face three of the four conference newcomers in 2023, traveling to Provo in Week 12 to take on a BYU team that has never lost to Oklahoma. Between Drake Stoops, Andrel Anthony, Jalil Farooq, Gavin Freeman, and the returning Austin Stogner, Venables’ team has more than enough weaponry to take advantage of a dubious Cougars’ pass defense.
Week 13 – Oklahoma vs. TCU: Win, 30-27
TCU embarrassed Oklahoma last fall on their way to a first win over the Sooners since 2014. You better believe that won’t have been forgotten when an improved Oklahoma team “welcomes” the Horned Frogs to Norman to close out the season.
TCU made some nice moves in the transfer portal, but it remains to be seen whether their offense can be as potent—and as much of a decisive component of their success—as it was on the run to the College Football Playoff last fall.
