Is Patience Running Thin in Norman After 25 Years?

There was a time when waiting on another Oklahoma football national title felt like pacing the living room during a storm. You knew another one would roll through eventually. It’s Oklahoma. That’s what they do.

Now here we are... A full quarter century since OU's last national championship title.

That makes this the longest national championship drought in University of Oklahoma football history. The previous longest stretch was 18 years between 1956 and 1974. Titles came with a little more regularity after that until their last.

Since 2000, OU hasn’t exactly been wandering in the wilderness. They’ve been close. Really close. Bob Stoops had them in multiple BCS National Championship games. They just didn’t finish. Then came the playoff era. More appearances. More chances. And if we’re being honest, more underwhelming exits than anyone wants to relive.

A Stoppable Force

They’ve competed for titles far more times than they’ve won them. That’s what makes this drought strange, but I suppose there's more at play here than just fair play.

OU has had a conference realignment, coaching turnover, and now NIL reshuffling the sport into something that looks more like free agency than recruiting. The SEC move alone was a culture shock. Add in the portal carousel and the money talk, and the playing field flattened out in a hurry.

And yet there’s still this feeling that it could break any year.

The Positives

Brent Venables has the program trending up. Year over year improvement. Defense that actually looks like it remembers what tackling is supposed to be. Recruiting that feels intentional. The foundation is there, even if the hardware isn’t.

Sooner fans catch grief for a lot of things. Fair or not. They are passionate. Loud. Confident. Sometimes prematurely so, but even the loudest ones have been forced to recalibrate expectations a bit. Twenty-five years of losing when it matters will do that to you.

Most Oklahomans, even the ones who bleed orange on Saturdays, would like to see OU make another run on top. Why not? They may be mortal enemies, but OU still represents Oklahoma and we never know what to expect with OSU on any given Saturday. It’s good for the state when Oklahoma football matters nationally.

The Return of Bedlam

It's also worth mentioning the good intentions and best wishes will never apply to the one day a year OU and OSU are at odds. With the recent talk of making Bedlam a permanent football game, regardless of conferences, every fan has the highest hopes.

So now the real question... How long will OU's patience last for a team that was once used to winning? Twenty-five years so far, and still counting.