Oklahoma Enters 2026 With Raised Expectations Following Transfer Portal Haul

As Indiana’s confetti gets swept up across Miami on Tuesday, the college football season officially turns the calendar to the offseason.

The Hoosiers are now the program to beat, at least heading into the 2026 season.

Unlike 2025, the Sooners start the season with the outside expectation to be in the chasing pack.

OU was ranked ninth in The Athletic’s way-too-early top 25, 10th in similar rankings for On3 and CBS and No. 12 in ESPN’s way-too-early rankings.

The return of quarterback John Mateer, paired with the respect earned by the performance of Brent Venables’ defense in 2025, has Oklahoma back in the conversation.

Oklahoma Sooners, John Mateer — Oklahoma quarterback John Mateer rushes for a touchdown against Alabama in the CFP. | Carson Field, Sooners On SI

Merely making the College Football Playoff in 2025 was a massive success in Norman.

Venables entered the season on the hot seat, but he quieted the detractors by finishing 10-2 in the regular season against a tough schedule.

Falling in the first round of the CFP won’t be good enough in 2026, however.

Offensive coordinator Ben Arbuckle has had a season to establish a foundation for his unit, and now with the help of health for Mateer and new faces brought in via the transfer portal, OU’s offense needs improve over the next seven months.

The Oklahoma offense finished No. 51 in ESPN’s SP+ ratings, a tempo- and opponent-adjusted measure of football efficiency. In the counting stats, OU finished the season ranked 79th in scoring offense (26.2 points per game), 60th in passing offense, 113th in rushing offense and 92nd in total offense.

Simply having a healthy throwing hand for Mateer throughout 2026 will provide a boost, but that alone won’t get the Sooner offense where it needs to be.

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Continued growth from true freshmen Michael Fasusi and Ryan Fodje along the offensive line, as well as Bill Bedenbaugh getting more consistency out of redshirt freshmen Eddy Pierre-Louis and Heath Ozaeta should help OU’s rushing attack. So will center Jake Maikkula having a full offseason in Norman, as well as improved health for running backs Xavier Robinson and Tory Blaylock.

General manager Jim Nagy overhauled Oklahoma’s tight ends for new position coach Jason Witten, which should also help the rushing attack as well as provide Mateer with more red zone targets so Arbuckle’s offense can trade field goals for touchdowns when they march toward the end zone.

The Sooners also surrounded Mateer with weapons like All-ACC receiver Trell Harris from Virginia and former Texas pass-catcher Parker Livingstone.

OU signed a handful of talented freshmen, too, who have the opportunity to play a role in 2025.

The winner of every 2025 CFP contest in the quarterfinals and beyond was 34, and while it’s an imperfect data set, it shows that Oklahoma’s offense unquestionably must improve if the Sooners want to not only get out of the first round of the CFP but make a run next January.

Venables fielded a championship-caliber defense in 2025, but he will be tasked with replacing key pieces to ensure there isn’t a major dropoff next year.

Oklahoma Sooners, Kip Lewis — Oklahoma linebacker Kip Lewis will return to Norman in 2026 after leading the Sooners in tackles in 2025. | Carson Field, Sooners On SI

Key contributors R Mason Thomas, Gracen Halton, Damonic Williams, Kendal Daniels and Robert Spears-Jennings all graduated and will move on to NFL Draft prep to continue their careers.

OU also lost depth pieces in Sammy Omosigho, Gentry Williams, Markus Strong, Devon Jordan, Kobie McKinzie and Jaydan Hardy to the transfer portal, though Nagy helped bring in more talent to bridge the gap.

David Stone, Jayden Jackson, Taylor Wein, Kip Lewis, Courtland Guillory, Eli Bowen, Peyton Bowen, Reggie Powers III and Michael Boganowski all return as projected starters, and their task will be to build on a season that saw OU’s defense finish ranked No. 4 in SP+, seventh in scoring defense, third in rushing defense, sixth in total defense and 32nd in passing defense.

Tate Sandell, the 2025 Lou Groza Award winner, is also back after emerging as a major weapon on special teams, and his leg will give Venables and the Sooners confidence they can win any one-score games they run into in 2026.

The path ahead won’t be easy. The Sooners have to travel to Michigan and Georgia on top of their yearly war with Texas in Dallas, but a difficult schedule won’t give anyone in Norman a free pass if Oklahoma is unable to return to the CFP in 2026.