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Sooner Football |
Great college football and the Oklahoma Sooners. For
as long as anyone can remember the two have been one
and the same. Unlike some schools where tradition represents
ancient history, or others where it harkens back only
a few years, Oklahoma's tradition is a constant accomplishment
unfettered by eras or time.
The Sooners were playing football before Oklahoma became
a state and have achieved a legacy so successful, that
more than contributing to the history of this great
game, it defines it.
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Sooners Play for Championships |
Nothing defines the competitive success of a college
athletics program like a national championship. OU,
with seven national titles sprinkled over four decades,
is one of the very few programs that sets out each
fall with the expectation and legitimate goal of pursuing
the national crown. That pursuit rates as a lot more
than just talk around here.
The aura is unmistakable, and it radiates from real
and repeated success on college football's biggest
stage. Oklahoma has claimed more national championships
than any other Big 12 program.
OU National Titles | 2000 | 1985 | 1975 | 1974 | 1956 | 1955 | 1950
The Sooners under Bob Stoops earned the program's most
recent title in 2000 with an Orange Bowl victory over
Florida State to cap an undefeated season. OU's
other championships came under Barry Switzer in 1985,
1975 and 1974, and Bud Wilkinson in 1956, 1955 and
1950.
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Booming Sooners |
Over the last 10 seasons, Oklahoma has won six
Big 12 Conference Championships with five different
quarterbacks. That fact alone carries plenty of intrigue,
but it's really nothing more than a sub plot to what
is happening in Norman.
OU Big 12 Championships | 2008 | 2007 | 2006 | 2004 | 2002 | 2000
For a program to truly become a program it must transcend
any one person, a message head coach Bob Stoops, the
recipient of much of the undesired credit, has preached
consistently relative to Oklahoma's success during
his tenure.
Stoops has seen four of his assistant coaches move
on to head coaching jobs at major universities. He witnessed 41 NFL Draft choices,
including eight of the first round variety, rise from
the Sooner camp. And yet the "program" keeps winning.
Since 2000, no program can top Oklahoma's 110 victories.
In Stoops' 11 years, the sooners have been to a bowl every season and have won fewer than
10 games just three times. The six Big 12 crowns are
three more than OU's closest competitor. | |
