TULSA — It was 8 a.m., but chants of “Boomer Sooner” and “Texas sucks” were loud and clear. Sooner fans, gathered for breakfast at a Tulsa food hall to celebrate OU’s official entrance into the SEC, sounded well-caffeinated.
But when event emcee Chad McKee tried to lead an “S-E-C” chant, the response was subdued — as if too many mimosas had been consumed.
“All right, so maybe that’s gonna be a work in progress,” McKee said.
And that’s OK.
This whole OU in the SEC thing is going to take some getting used to.
While president Joe Harroz, athletic director Joe Castiglione and other Sooner higher-ups are cannonballing into the new conference, where a pool of cash awaits, forgive the rest of us for merely dipping our toes into the water.
More: OU to SEC celebration schedule, live updates from Sooners’ move to Southeastern Conference
I assume any fan who attended the various July 1 SEC celebrations is on board with the move, not that they had a choice. But even they, the most ardent Sooner fanatics, knew the “SEC” chant didn’t sound right coming out of their mouths.
Indoctrination doesn’t happen over breakfast.
“Trust me,” said SEC Network host Dari Nowkhah, a Tulsa native and OU alum, “I know that almost every one of you in this room has said to yourself at least once in your life, ‘That damn SEC.’ SEC fatigue is a real thing, I get it. Trust me. But it is one heck of a league.”
That much we all know. The SEC has ruled college football. And poaching OU and Texas from the Big 12 only makes the SEC scarier. OU owned Big 12 football and Texas, despite underperforming all too often, was the second-best program in the league.
OU football might see an annual subtraction or two in the win column, but it’ll add millions to its coffers.
Money is the driving force behind everything in college football — from conference realignment, to the coaching carousel to NIL deals. You can’t blame OU administrators for chasing more money just like you can’t blame players for chasing more money.
The rich of the SEC and Big Ten are getting richer. Everyone else is a second-class citizen.
The defections of OU and Texas from the Big 12 to the SEC spurred this latest round of conference realignment, but it’s naive to think no other dominos would’ve fallen had the Sooners and Longhorns stayed put.
OU football fits culturally in the SEC, but it also fit in the Big 12. There’s no good reason why Ole Miss is on OU’s schedule and Oklahoma State isn’t. Trips to Tuscaloosa and Baton Rouge will be cool, but old outposts like Ames and Lubbock will be missed.
OU in SEC: 16 things for Oklahoma Sooners fans to look forward to in new conference
We’re about to see if the Sooners are ready for SEC life — both on the field and in the tailgate tents.
“You all have heard and have many times made fun of, ‘It just means more,’” Nowkhah said. “Is it cheesy? Maybe a little bit. But it’s a real statement.”
SEC football is brutally tough, but let’s not pretend the Sooners are underdogs. Only Alabama has a better program historically than Oklahoma in the SEC. Georgia is alone at the top these days, but OU should be in a second tier with the likes of Alabama, LSU, Florida and Tennessee depending on the year.
“This is a program that takes a back seat to nobody,” Sooner football coach Brent Venables said.
Venables, women’s basketball coach Jennie Baranczyk and baseball coach Skip Johnson — who returned to OU after a dalliance with Texas A&M — were part of the Sooner contingent in Tulsa.
Each addressed the crowd, as did Barry Switzer.
The 86-year-old Switzer never disappoints with a microphone in his hand.
“I have a great passion for the University of Oklahoma because I helped build the tradition there,” Switzer said. “I added to it, and I know Brent Venables is gonna add to it.
“He’s got a lot of pressure to do it, and by God he’s gonna do it. They pay his ass enough! I didn’t get paid like that.”
Venables grinned big and the crowd cracked up.
Then Switzer turned serious.
“It’s gonna be great to be in the SEC and watch these guys,” he said. “There’s no gimmes. Every week you’re going out to play Texas, I promise ya. Every Saturday.”
Time to get used to it.
More: Is OU football prepared for SEC? Sooners may be better than people think
Joe Mussatto is a sports columnist for The Oklahoman. Have a story idea for Joe? Email him at jmussatto@oklahoman.com. Support Joe’s work and that of other Oklahoman journalists by purchasing a digital subscription today at subscribe.oklahoman.com.
This article originally appeared on Oklahoman: Oklahoma officially joins SEC; time to adapt to new world for Sooners
