The Oklahoma Sooners are the athletic teams that represent the University of Oklahoma, located in Norman. The 19 men's and women's varsity teams are called the "Sooners", a reference to a nickname given to the early participants in the Land Run of 1889, which initially opened the Unassigned Lands in the future state of Oklahoma to non-native settlement. The university's athletic teams compete in the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA)'s Division I in the Big 12 Conference. The university's current athletic director is Joe Castiglione.
The Sooners have won 43 team national championships. In 2002, the University of Oklahoma was ranked as the third best college sports program in America by Sports Illustrated.
Sports sponsored
The University of Oklahoma was a charter member of the Southwest Athletic Conference (SWC) during its formation in 1914. Five years later, in 1919, OU left the SWC and joined the Missouri Valley Intercollegiate Athletic Association. In 1928, this conference split, and OU remained aligned with the teams that formed the Big Six Conference. Over the next 31 years, more schools were added and the conference underwent several name changes, incrementing the number each time up to the Big Eight Conference where it remained until 1996. Four Texas schools joined with the members of Big Eight to form the current Big 12 Conference.
In July 2021, Oklahoma and the University of Texas at Austin accepted invitations to join the Southeastern Conference after the two universities had reached out the conference. In May 2023, it was announced that the two universities had approved the necessary contractual agreements with both conferences in order officially join the SEC on July 1, 2024. Oklahoma will remain as an affiliate member of the Big 12 in men's wrestling as the SEC does not sponsor the sport, no other sport will be affected.
When combined with Blake Griffin's John Wooden Award and Sam Bradford's Heisman Trophy, Oklahoma became the second school to have a top winner in both basketball and football in the same year (in 1968, Gary Beban won the Heisman Trophy and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar won the USBWA "Player of the Year" award for UCLA).
Football
The Sooners have been participating in college football since 1895. Calling Gaylord Family Oklahoma Memorial Stadium at Owen Field home, the team has won numerous bowl games, 50 conference championships (including every Big Seven championship awarded), and seven Associated Press National Championships, making the Sooners football program the most decorated in the Big 12. Oklahoma has scored the most points in Division I-A football history despite the fact they have played over 60 fewer games than the second place school on that list. OU also has the highest winning percentage of any team since the start of the AP poll in 1936.
The Sooners possess 7 national championships in football, with 1950, 1955, 1956, 1974, 1975, 1985, and 2000 seasons featuring the top team in the Associated Press final poll, and the 2000 Bowl Championship Series National Championship as well. This number is 3rd only to the Alabama Crimson Tide (12) and the Notre Dame Fighting Irish (8) for the most AP titles of any Division I college football team after the end of World War II (which is commonly used as the division between eras in college football).
In addition to these seven acknowledged national championships there are also ten additional years in which the NCAA's official record book lists other selections (mostly by math rating systems) of the Sooners as national champions, with the first four years in retrospect: 1915, 1949, 1953, 1957, 1967, 1973, 1978, 1980, 1986, 2003. In general, math formula rankings are not recognized as national championships. The University of Oklahoma does not acknowledge these additional "championships", as they were not awarded by the Associated Press, United Press International (UPI), USA Today Coaches Poll, or the Bowl Championship Series (BCS).
Individual success is also a major part of Oklahoma football; seven Heisman Trophy winners (Billy Vessels, Steve Owens, Billy Sims, Jason White, Sam Bradford Baker Mayfield, and Kyler Murray) are surrounded by many other award winners, including NFL MVP Award winner Adrian Peterson, Joe Washington, Brian Bosworth, Tony Casillas, Greg Pruitt, Josh Heupel, Jerry Tubbs, Rocky Calmus, Granville Liggins, Teddy Lehman, Lee Roy Selmon, Roy Williams, Tommy McDonald, Mark Clayton, Tommie Harris, J. C. Watts, Keith Jackson, and Jammal Brown. More than a dozen Sooner players have been inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame. Oklahoma has more Butkus award winners than any other school.