Paul Finebaum identifies two critical games that will determine Oklahoma's success in first year in SEC

The Oklahoma Sooners are gearing up for their first SEC football season and, ahead of that season, analyst Paul Finebaum identified two critical games that will determine Oklahoma’s success in 2024.

As Finebaum explained on McElroy and Cubelic in the Morning, Oklahoma has a much more difficult schedule than Texas. That’s going to make the Sooners’ transition more difficult. However, the games against Tennessee and Alabama are going to be particularly important.

“I think they’re in good shape, but unlike Texas’ schedule…pretty fortunate, Oklahoma’s is not,” Paul Finebaum said. “Oklahoma has two games at home that I think are critical. It’s the Tennessee game early, and you all know what’s gonna happen when Josh Heupel shows back up here. He was the hero of the last national championship. Then, Alabama at the end.”

Josh Heupel is one of the great quarterbacks on Oklahoma history, having been a Heisman Trophy runner-up in 2000. That was the same season he led the team to its most recent national championship. Later, he’d become an assistant coach in Norman but things eventually ended awkwardly, with his contract not being renewed. In 2024, he’ll lead his Tennessee Volunteers in for one of Oklahoma’s key games.

That game against Tennessee is going to be in September and will be Oklahoma’s first conference game. Alabama, on the other hand, will be late in the season, and by that time what each team is in 2024. That will be made clear by the challenging schedule between those two games.

“I think they know they have to split those games and then hold on for dear life when they go to Auburn and other places,” Finebaum said.

Ultimately, Paul Finebaum doesn’t think that Oklahoma is going to be competing for the College Football Playoff the same way Texas might in their first season in the SEC. However, so much of that comes down to there being so many competitors for a limited number of spots.

“I think that they can get to nine wins. I don’t think they’re a playoff team because I think that crowded field is just too much when we’re talking about, other than Texas, and Georgia, and Alabama,” Finebaum said.

“Though I do think Texas got a bit of a halo with that Playoff last year, and I heard it last night. You all know what Ewers said last night but Sarkisian basically said the same thing to us. Texas isn’t going through a freshman orientation. They’re already at the head of the class in their minds, of course.”