Why Phil Steele Believes Oklahoma Can Navigate a Tough Schedule

The Sooners have high expectations in 2026, but OU will again have to endure a gauntlet in SEC play.

Oklahoma coach Brent Venables looks on during the Sooners' 2026 Spring Game. | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect

Oklahoma's schedule projects to be brutal again.

In their first five games, the Sooners will take trips to Ann Arbor to battle Michigan in The Big House, they'll head between the hedges for the first time to take on Georgia and the Sooners will take on Texas in the Red River Rivalry.

Later in the year, OU will host Texas A&M and Ole Miss, who both took part in the College Football Playoff last year, and Brent Venables' group will take trips to Florida and Missouri.

But college football insider Phil Steele likes the Sooners' chances to navigate the gauntlet and get back to the CFP.

"I finish the magazine at the start of June," the author of Phil Steele's College Football Preview said in an interview on The Franchise Morning Show. "I then go through every game for the upcoming season and I look at the matchups, I look at the history, I look at the site, I look at the situation and I throw my nine sets of power ratings in.

"And when I look at Oklahoma for the season, I’ve got them a toss-up game at Michigan; I rate that game even. The Texas game I rate as a toss-up and I rate them an underdog at Georgia, but I’ve got them favored in all the other games this year."

ICYMI: @philsteele042 joined @Eddie_Rado and @_RyanChapman to talk College Football! #CFB #SECFootball https://t.co/klDBHGV1Gj

— The Franchise Sports (@FranchiseOK) July 9, 2026

A 10-2 finish in the regular season last year was good enough for Venables to get the program back to the CFP, and that came with quarterback John Mateer playing the final seven games of the regular season with an injured thumb.

OU went up 17-0 on Alabama in the CFP before the Crimson Tide rallied to win the game, but Steele believes any team that gets to the CFP will have a chance to fight for a national title.

"It is wide open. There really is no clear-cut favorite coming into the season," Steele said. "I think that’s the one thing that stands out to me about this year in college football. Look at last year. Miami (FL) was basically the last team in the playoff and they very nearly won the national title last year. So it all depends on who is playing the best at the end of the year. The key is getting into the playoff at this point."

Oklahoma will open the 2026 season against UTEP on Sept. 4.

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