Bob Stoops previews what SEC life will be for Oklahoma

Bob Stoops knows Oklahoma, but he knows the SEC as well. So with the Sooners officially taking their first steps in the conference on Monday, what will life be like?

Gone are the days of the Big 12 for Oklahoma and Texas, so welcome to where “it just means more.” As far as Stoops is concerned, he couldn’t be more excited when it comes to Oklahoma hosting these teams and traveling around the southeast.

He previewed what life would be like for Oklahoma in its new home Monday night on SEC Network.

“Yeah, the best part of it is the passion of the fans,” Stoops said. “I mean, everywhere you go, they’re throwing stuff at you as the bus comes in. Everybody … as soon as you can take the field, you’re getting booed. I mean, it’s passionate. It’s exciting. Big, great stadiums. So to me, I love stadiums. 

“I love to compete in these big stadiums. And we did that and nothing was more fun than that. Every game is going to be that way. And that’s the other part of every game. There’s going to be 60 to 100,000 people you’re lucky if it’s 60, it’s probably more than that. Point being, it’s fun, it’s exciting, it’s what you want.”

Oklahoma to Baton Rouge, Tuscaloosa, welcoming in Ole Miss and Georgia. These are just some of the matchups Oklahoma will see in what could be a long history in its new conference.

Oklahoma begins new era in SEC, starting with football on the big stage

If Stoops, the former Oklahoma coach, can’t wait for the SEC, then its current coach Brent Venables must be ecstatic.

OU also brings seven national championships with it to the SEC, which it officially joined Monday along with the Longhorns. The Sooners have also produced seven Heisman Trophy winners and 50 conference titles.

Those are all facts that Venables pointed to as being a reason why the they fit in well in the SEC, which has been at the top of college football for the past couple of decades.

“We’re one of the winningest programs in the history of college football,” Venables said Monday to cheers from an Oklahoma crowd on the SEC Network. “This is a program, whether it’s the 47-game winning streak or the most conference championships in the history of college football. The national championships, all the Heisman winners. The countless players that are now in the Hall of Fame, both the Pro Football Hall of Fame and the College Football Hall of Fame.

“…This program stands on its own two legs. Now you get elite matching up with elite. An elite program, like Oklahoma has been for many years, matching up with the best brand and the best league in all of college football — the SEC.”