Roger Denny Believes Oklahoma is 'Above the Cut Line' in College Football's Future

OU's athletic director feels empowered to be at the helm of one of the sport's premier programs in an uncertain future for college football.

Oklahoma Athletic Director Roger Denny | John E. Hoover / Sooners On SI

TAMPA — SEC Commissioner Greg Sankey got the attention of the room at SEC Media Days 2026 when he brought up the possibility of his conference breaking away from the NCAA.

Whether it's been super leagues, injunctions from local judges, or open discussions of roster cuts due to cap space — college football is changing. If you fell asleep in 2018 and woke up today, you would have a hard time recognizing the sport from your memory.

Roger Denny, whose five months on the job as athletic director at the University of Oklahoma arguably allow him to drop the “new” prefix from his title, doesn’t seem concerned about the turmoil boiling beneath the sport.

On the contrary, he feels empowered in his position heading one of the best athletic departments in the nation.

Roger Denny at SEC Media Days 2026 | Stephen Curtis / 107.7 The Franchise

"At Oklahoma, I think we're a little farther above the cut line than most," Denny said at SEC Media Days. "And so I take some comfort in that."

Denny isn't one to jump to conclusions on where the sport is going. He's more concerned with Oklahoma's ability to "adapt and react quickly and with a real strategy" to whichever way the wind begins blowing.

But Denny is right there with the majority of college football fans who hope the sport can find some stability. Whenever that happens, OU is well-positioned to navigate those new waters. Denny is also confident that Oklahoma can be an influential entity to help enact the necessary change the sport needs.

"If you listen to Coach (Brent) Venables earlier, I think he and his staff and our confidence leadership have correctly identified the points at which, if they really came to fruition, we could get behind it and push for change at the legislative level," Denny said.

Oklahoma AD Roger Denny | John E. Hoover / Sooners On SI

Much of that confidence in OU's ability to adapt to a changing landscape stems from the recent announcement of Oklahoma's record-breaking $241 million in gifts and commitments during FY26. In Denny's mind, this is proof of the valuable buy-in factor.

"We've got all out commitment," Denny said. "Our Board of Regents are behind this, President (Joseph) Harroz is strictly behind this. Our donors are behind this.

"But that number isn't just the 'Big money donors.' A lot of that number is the folks that make contributions for their seat priority in the stadium. So, that's commitment from every fan up and down our roster and throughout the state of Oklahoma," Denny added.

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