Oklahoma is home to The Oklahoma Sooners, one of the most exciting college football programs in the world. This team represents the University of Oklahoma (“OU”) as a member of the NCAA Division I Big 12 Conference. Ever since the program was established near the end of the 19th century, it has had a history of thrilling matches, especially when playing in front of their home crowds.
And today is no different, as the team plays out of The Gaylord Family Oklahoma Memorial Stadium that has room for over 86,000 fans from across the country. In fact, fans have come to expect excellence from the program, especially since it is one of the most successful college football programs of the modern era.
And this coming season is shaping up to be a thrilling one for the team as 2022 is the first year with a brand new coach. And new leadership means amazing new strategies that may catch their rivals and opposing teams by surprise.
But will it be enough to push the Sooners to the championships? Critics and fans across the country are weighing in, but the best way to find out is to see the games in person. So don’t miss out on this chance for the best seats at The Gaylord Family Oklahoma Memorial Stadium to catch the next big Oklahoma Sooners game.
About Oklahoma Memorial Stadium
Gaylord Family Oklahoma Memorial Stadium, also known as Owen Field or The Palace on the Prairie is the home stadium for the Oklahoma Sooners. The stadium can be found on the campus of the University of Oklahoma in Norman, Oklahoma.
And it is a massive structure with seating capacity calculated at 80,126 fans, making it the 23rd largest stadium in the world and the 15th largest college stadium in the US. In addition, it’s the 2nd largest stadium currently in the Big 12 Conference, just behind Darrel K Royal-Texas Memorial Stadium. The stadium has a distinctive bowl-shaped facility with the long parts oriented north/south with both sides enclosed. The seating section is divided between visitor seating areas and student seating space.
A Brief History
The stadium first opened its doors in the early 1920s and, as you can guess, it has faced numerous renovations to keep it on the cutting edge of college athletics. One of the most recent major renovations came in the late 1990s, when the then 75-year old stadium was starting to show its age.
Plans were made to upgrade the facility beginning with a five-year fundraising campaign to help pay for the costs of renovations.
This effort was cut short after the Sooners won the BCS National Championships in the 2000 season. Because of this victory, the university got popular with freshman applications, more than it could house. And so, in addition to more housing for incoming students, plans to complete the stadium in time for the 2003 season were rushed.
By 2002, every seat in the stadium was replaced and the north end zone scoreboard was dismantled. The A/V systems were completely replaced with new video scoreboards placed at both end zones. The west side of the stadium, that had been long ignored beyond the addition of a press box, received new improvements for restrooms and concession stands. And a nearby street was even moved to allow for more construction work to be done.
Football Team Summary
The love football fans have for The Oklahoma Sooners come as no surprise when you consider it’s history of success. In fact, it is considered one of, if not the, most winningest college football program in the modern era. To date, it has a .728 win record (928-331-53) and a stellar .573 Bowl Game record (31-23-1). In addition, the team has had 7 claimed national titles and 11 unclaimed national titles.
While analysts and critics debate on why this is, it’s certainly telling that the most intense games for the Sooners come during the regular season. Which is why those tickets are always the most hotly contested tickets around. But with a brand new head coach leading the team as of 2022, there’s no telling if this is the season that will set a new standard for the Sooners. Only time will tell.
Achievements
To date, the program has had a history of stunning season after stunning season. Besides the claimed and unclaimed national titles, this also includes 50 Conference titles, including 14 in a row from 1946 to 1959. And you can’t forget how the team won 8 division championships, including a six year streak from 2002-2008.
And along with these team achievements, the program has also fielded some of the most awarded players in the NCAA. This includes seven Heisman Trophy winners and six runner-ups.
Here’s a small list of those Heisman trophy winners.
- YearPlayerPositionPoints
- 1952 Billy Vessels HB 525
- 1954 Kurt Burris C 838
- 1969 Steve Owens RB 1,488
- 1972 Greg Pruitt RB 966
- 1978 Billy Sims RB 827
- 1979 Billy Sims RB 773
- 2000 Josh Heupel QB 1,552
- 2003 Jason White QB 1,481
- 2004 Adrian Peterson RB 997
- 2008 Sam Bradford QB 1,726
- 2017 Baker Mayfield QB 2,398
- 2018 Kyler Murray QB 2,167
- 2019 Jalen Hurts QB 762
The team has fielded other award winning players. But here is a short set of lists.
Outland Trophy
Best college football interior lineman
- 1951 Jim Weatherall – T
- 1953 J.D. Roberts – G
- 1975 Lee Roy Selmon – DT
- 1978 Greg Roberts – G
- 2004 Jammal Brown – OT
Sporting News College Football
Player of the year
- 1952 Billy Vessels – HB
- 1956 Tommy McDonald – HB
- 1969 Steve Owens – HB
- 1978 Billy Sims – HB
- 2003 Jason White – QB
- 2008 Sam Bradford – QB
- 2015 Baker Mayfield – QB
Maxwell Award
Best all-around college football player
- 1956 Tommy McDonald – HB
- 2004 Jason White – QB
- 2017 Baker Mayfield – QB
Notable Moments
If you want to get hyped for upcoming Sooners games, then make sure you check out these awesome moments for this program.
- 2010 Big 12 Championship Game –
Oklahoma 23, Nebraska 20
This game between longtime rivals Oklahoma and Nebraska has been considered one of the hottest rivalries in college sports. And this game was the last matchup between the teams in a championship match. - 2020 Red River Showdown – Oklahoma
53, Texas 45 (4OT)
This game led to a strong finish to the season that left fans excited for the 2021 sooners. And it is one of the greatest Red River Showdowns ever. - 2013 Bedlam – Oklahoma 33,
Oklahoma State 24
This 2013 Bedlam game was a memorable edition of the Oklahoma-Oklahoma State rivalry in history. And fans will remember head coach Bob Stoops fistpump when the Sooners took the lead late in the game.