TAMPA, FL — Life as an SEC football coach means every game is important.
OU football coach Brent Venables is well aware of that fact and it’s one he repeated weekly last season when faced with questions about opponents or his job in the wake of a 6-7 campaign in 2024. But OU might have the toughest schedule in the country yet again in 2026 and almost certainly the most difficult opening stretch.
The Sooners open with what will surely be a victory against UTEP at home before hitting the road to face Michigan at the Big House in Week 2. From there, OU hosts New Mexico before traveling to face perhaps the two favorites to win the SEC — Georgia at Sanford Stadium and Texas at the Cotton Bowl in Dallas.
“My responsibility is to get our guys ready to play football all 12 games,” Venables said Monday at SEC Media Days.
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ESPN’s 2026 College Football Power Index projects the Sooners’ schedule as the second toughest in the country, just behind Arkansas’ slate.
Venables says the taxing schedule ahead has motivated his players during summer workouts as they’ve used it as a rallying cry. OU will also receive an extra day of preparation ahead of their game against the Wolverines after moving the UTEP contest from Saturday to Friday night during Week 1.
“You play an early game against Michigan on the road,” Venables said. “There’s some things you’re trying to do from a scheduling standpoint that will give you the best chance to recover and be ready to go play. Great challenge.
“The out-of-season program for us, it’s worked to our benefit in regards to the motivation, the excitement, the enthusiasm, the quality of the work that our guys have put in. Couldn’t be more excited about that.”
Colton Sulley covers the Oklahoma Sooners for The Oklahoman. Order “BOOM TIMES: The Oklahoma Sooners’ Epic Charge to the 2026 College World Series Title” at Sooners.ChampsBook.com. Have a story idea for Colton? He can be reached at csulley@oklahoman.com or on X/Twitter at @colton_sulley. Support Colton’s work and that of other Oklahoman journalists by purchasing a digital subscription today at subscribe.oklahoman.com.
This article originally appeared on Oklahoman: Brent Venables ‘excited’ for challenge of OU football’s first five games
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