Sooners historically fall short of pre-season expectations
In the fall of 1972 I entered the University of Oklahoma as a first year law student. I chose to attend OU for many reasons, not the least of which was the 1971 Thanksgiving day Nebraska game which, in my mind. presaged championship football during my three years at the University.
Imagine my surprise, upon arrival in Norman, to find that there was not universal acceptance of the “fact” that OU had the best team in the nation. This was back in the days of my youth when I started every football season with the unshakable belief that we would go undefeated and spend New Year’s evening celebrating another national championship after a rousing Sugar Bowl win.
I couldn’t believe we weren’t unanimously ranked No.1.
I remember sitting in the coffee shop in the student union with my fellow law students assuring each other that Oklahoma historically does better in those seasons where expectations were low at the beginning. None of us had any evidence of this “fact.” I think we were just trying to reassure ourselves that we were in the hunt for a national championship that year.
My recollections, however, raise an interesting point as we enter the 2015 season with a preseason ranking of 19. So, a little research: