Greg McElroy previews exciting matchup between Alabama, Oklahoma in 2024
Two of the top programs in college football are set to meet in 2024 as Oklahoma will host Alabama in its first season in the SEC.
The Crimson Tide have won six national titles under legendary coach Nick Saban, while Oklahoma is trying to get back to being elite under second-year head coach Brent Venables.
Oklahoma struggled in Year 1 under Venables, but there’s optimism that the Sooners will be much-improved this year.
ESPN college football analyst Greg McElroy is excited about the matchup, even though it is still more than a year away.
McElroy recently spoke on the Always College Football podcast and listed the game as one of his top five SEC games for the 2024 season. For now, he has the game ranked No. 4, but if the Sooners can get back to being College Football Playoff contenders, it could be the best game in the SEC for 2024.
“Alabama traveling to Oklahoma, that naturally would be at the top of any matchup that you would find in recent years. Now Oklahoma has slipped just a little bit,” McElroy said. “Maybe it’s a one-year thing. Maybe they struggle to regain their footing. Who knows. I hope they bounce back this year. But Alabama traveling to Norman, a game that we haven’t seen in 20 years, I look forward to that matchup.”
Alabama and Oklahoma have played twice in the past 10 years — once in a bowl game in Miami and once in a bowl game in New Orleans. The last time the two programs met in Norman came in 2002, with Oklahoma earning a 37-27 victory.
Nick Saban addresses the importance, difficulty of parity in college football
Alabama and Oklahoma haven’t had to worry about a lack of parity in college football. However, Nick Saban knows that it is important.
The Alabama head coach sat down with Fox Sports’ Joel Klatt to discuss this hot topic. Saban used the NFL example and how professional leagues are practically designed for parity.
However, it’s a little different for college football.
“Well, I think all leagues want to create parity,” Saban said. “If you look at the NFL, they would love for everybody to be 8-8 going into the 17th game of the season. Because every fan base in every city would be excited about the outcome of the next game. So parity creates a lot of excitement. I think it’s harder to do in college football because we have so many different teams and the fundamentals are different at the University of Alabama, as opposed to another school and I don’t want to mention another school, but a 1AA school, a Division II school, even a lower half Division I school.
“The money’s different, the dynamics are different. The investment that’s made and the athletes and the program are different and the value created for the athletes is different. So it’s not all the same.”