The 2025 Sooners Place Themselves in a Rare Historical Category at Oklahoma

The No. 7 Oklahoma Sooners sit at 4-0 heading into their first bye week of the 2025 season. Their résumé stands as one of the more impressive through the first five weeks — taking down then-No. 15 Michigan in a 24-13 win and last Saturday's 24-17 victory over the then-No. 22 Auburn Tigers.

Four games, two ranked opponents down, and the Sooners remain unblemished

Nationally, only the No. 2 Miami Hurricanes can claim two ranked wins in their initial four games of the year, having defeated then-No. 6 Notre Dame in the season opener and then-No. 18 USF in week three.

That alone should give the idea that playing ranked teams this early in the season is rare, let alone two of them. Beating them, even rarer.

Oklahoma Sooners, John Mateer — Oklahoma quarterback John Mateer | Carson Field, Sooners on SI

For Oklahoma, the feat grows more remarkable when placed in a historical lens.

In the AP Poll era (1936), Oklahoma as a program has opened against multiple ranked opponents within the first four games in only 16 seasons. In just six of those instances did OU come away with two wins.

1954 - 10-0, Big 7 champions (old conference rules did not allow teams back-to-back Orange Bowl appearances)
1971 - 11-1 Sugar Bowl champions
1973 - 10-0-1, Big 8 champions (bowl ban)
1975 - 11-1, National Champions
1990 - 8-3, finished No. 17 in the country
2015 - 12-2, Big 12 champions, lost in program's first College Football Playoff appearance

The 2025 Sooners now add themselves as the seventh team in school history to accomplish this feat. Outside of the 1990 season, that’s exclusive company with some of the program’s most decorated teams.

But early-season success does not guarantee trophies and banners at the year's conclusion. For Oklahoma to keep pace with those championship-caliber predecessors, Brent Venables’ squad must prove it can weather what’s still to come. Just because the Sooners have some unique history at their backs, the current team will have to answer larger tests in the schedule to come.

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Of Oklahoma's eight remaining games, six are against ranked opponents, two of them (Texas and LSU) currently stand with the Sooners among the top 10. It’s hard to even find precedent for a gauntlet this difficult.

The closest comparison may be Barry Switzer's first season as head coach (which happens to be one of the six seasons previously mentioned). OU started off the year tying No. 1 USC followed by beating No. 17 Miami (FL), No. 13 Texas, No. 16 Colorado. They then rattled off wins later in the year against No. 10 Missouri, No. 18 Kansas and No. 10 Nebraska. As it would turn out, that OU team was under a bowl ban, which explains why no banners bear the year 1973.

Oklahoma Sooners, Barry Switzer — Jan 1, 1981; Miami, FL, USA; FILE PHOTO; Oklahoma Sooners head coach Barry Switzer gets a victory ride following their win over the Florida State Seminoles in the 1980 Orange Bowl 18-17. Mandatory Credit: Malcolm Emmons-Imagn Images | Malcolm Emmons-Imagn Images

But even without much historical evidence, the present Oklahoma team has a difficult road, yes, but the Sooners have already proven to be able to handle the challenge. The question is, how many times can they successfully answer the call?

At 4-0, the Sooners have distinguished themselves as one of the nation’s sharpest openers. But Oklahoma fans have seen hot starts before — the real judgment comes when the stakes sharpen once we move from summer to fall. Every OU team that has pulled off this early résumé — save for 1990 — finished the season with a championship trophy to show for it.

Whether Venables’ squad can follow through on that precedent remains to be seen, but their opening month has put them on a track reserved for some of the program's most decorated teams. For now, Venables and the Sooners will take this week to breathe, regroup, and prepare, for the tough challenges ahead.