College Football

2013 Oklahoma football schedule: Opponents, game dates and more

The Sooners face a transition year in 2013, but could still accomplish big things. Let’s take a look at their schedule and see how things may play out in Norman.

by Peter Berkes

Aug 28, 2013, 2:00 PM UTC

US PRESSWIRE

The past several seasons have been a bit odd for the Oklahoma Sooners. They won at least 10 games every year under quarterback Landry Jones, and have beat Texas three straight years. However, despite all their successes, there seems to be a feeling that the program isn't running at maximum capacity. 2013 will a bit of a shakeup for the Sooners, as they're replacing their quarterback, as well as seven starters on defense. Will the changes do them good, or will this season be a step back for Oklahoma? Let's take a look at their schedule to see how things break down.

2013 Oklahoma schedule


	Date	Opponent	Conf.	Projected ranking
	8/31/2013	UL-Monroe	SBC	78
	9/7/2013	West Virginia	B12	47
	9/14/2013	Tulsa	CUSA	59
	9/21/2013	Open Date
	9/28/2013	at Notre Dame	IND	10
	10/5/2013	TCU	B12	12
	10/12/2013	Texas (Dallas)	B12	6
	10/19/2013	at Kansas	B12	103
	10/26/2013	Texas Tech	B12	42
	11/2/2013	Open Date
	11/7/2013	at Baylor	B12	37
	11/16/2013	Iowa State	B12	83
	11/23/2013	at Kansas State	B12	41
	11/30/2013	Open Date
1	12/7/2013	at Oklahoma State	B12	5
	Date	Opponent	Conf.	Projected ranking

Projections from Football Outsiders’ 2013 college football almanac.

More: For more on the Sooners, check out Crimson and Cream Machine

The Sooners start the season with three games they should win against UL-Monroe, West Virginia and Tulsa, but they run into a complete meat grinder starting on Sept. 28 on the road against Notre Dame. That starts a three-week stretch that will make or break their BCS hopes, with games against TCU in Norman and the Red River Rivalry game against Texas in the Cotton Bowl. If Oklahoma can pull at least two wins from that stretch, they should be in good shape.

The middle-to-late part of the season doesn’t include a lot of big matchups, but games against Texas Tech, Baylor, and Kansas State certainly aren’t gimmes. The last game of the season is the big one, though, as they travel to Stillwater to face Oklahoma State. This game has featured high stakes over the past several years, and could easily decide the Big 12 title in 2013.

Considering the transition at quarterback, the Sooners probably won’t go undefeated, even in the best case scenario. However, this is still a team capable of picking up 10+ wins and winning the Big 12. Even if things go completely off the rails, the Sooners aren’t really in danger of missing a bowl game, but Bob Stoops isn’t being paid all that money just to get to bowl games.