Oklahoma AD Discusses SEC Reveal, Conference Schedules, Bedlam, Michigan, Army and More
TULSA — With the Southeastern Conference set to reveal its 2024 conference opponents at 6 p.m., Oklahoma athletic director Joe Castiglione expressed excitement and anticipation on Wednesday — even though he already knows who the Sooners are playing, and where.
“Very excited,” Castiglione said. "I'm still a fan at heart in some ways. So yeah, there's a lot of excitement."
Castiglione met with a trio of reporters following a regularly scheduled meeting of the OU Board of Regents at the Postoak Resort near downtown. Much of the discussion centered around Wednesday's 6 p.m. reveal on SEC Network.
“Once the schedule pops up on the screen, I think for everyone, I'd imagine it would feel far more real than it's felt up until this time," Castiglione said. “It's been a real, real positive experience. I’ve told many people, quite frankly, it's felt very natural, a lot of common interests between the University of Oklahoma and other member schools.
Joe Castglione
John E. Hoover / AllSooners
While much of the nearly 20-minute conversation centered around the SEC, Castiglione also expressed insights on a number of other topics:
On Michigan remaining on the schedule in 2025 and 2026 as the marquee non-conference opponent:
“We're not altering that one. Just making sure nobody reads into anything there.”
On how close he is to re-adding Army back to the non-conference schedule after the game at West Point was scrubbed due to the pandemic:
“Not close. It's just, haven't been able to find a date that works for both.”
On playing Oklahoma State in non-conference games:
“We’ve built ours (scheduling philosophy) on nine because of the Big 12’s been playing a nine-game schedule since 2012. And so, you know, there's some of those challenges. I'll just offer this, too: that's part of the reason we're not able to find an opportunity to play Oklahoma State right now. They have a scheduling matrix that has been built on nine games and they have they have contracts in place. So I know sometimes when you talk about that, people want to spin it a certain way — and I don't ever try to speak for Oklahoma State.
“But I do understand what they were facing and I've had really good conversations with Chad (Weiberg, OSU’s athletic director) about it and we're going to play each other in a variety of sports going forward. We don't have those dates yet on our schedule, but we've been talking about those. And I think in time that we'll find an opportunity to work dates (that) are mutually agreeable to both institutions that might be out there a ways. But I think in the end, that'll end up happening. At least that's my opinion.”
On how disruptive it is to his meticulous nature to not know what the SEC wants to do with its conference schedule beyond 2024:
“I’m a meticulous planner, but I'm also recognizing there's part of this world that we can't quite control. While I've been on record, from the beginning, saying I favor a nine game schedule, I’m certainly maybe more mindful than others might be if the challenges of changing the scheduling philosophy of 14 other schools at a time — when two new ones are coming in even a year earlier than planned.
“So I totally get the reasons why we voted to have an eight-game scheduled for one year. Who knows whether that will continue beyond this year, it might it might not. I think eventually, that the conference will have a nine-game schedule when that occurs. Not fully sure. But you also know I'm not a complainer. You just have to deal with what it is. We need our fans every step of the way. And so let's just let's just embrace what it is.”
On fans of future SEC opponents flooding into Norman:
“We’ve typically been held to 4,000 maybe 5,000 tickets that we would offer a visiting team and then they in turn reciprocate with the same number. We won't have five anymore. That number’s changed. But the way for a lot of the fans to go to some of these places, they'll be either using the secondary market or starting to make friends.”
