Auburn Tigers head football coach Hugh Freeze and Oklahoma's Brent Venables are coming off losing seasons, and both have a pair of those in the last several years. Josh Pate believes their shared urgency makes the programs' September 20 clash in Norman a must-watch early season SEC clash.
"In this game we've got two head coaches in their third year that both have to get it done," Pate said, per Sooners Wire. "Hugh Freeze at Auburn, Brent Venables at Oklahoma. ... By the time they play this game in Norman in Week 4, Michigan will have already come to Norman and Auburn will have already played at Baylor. So, are they undefeated? Do they both have a loss? Maybe multiple losses? Two teams with, I don't know what they're rated, but whatever you would rate them, probably two of the most underrated pure roster talent teams in college football. Because no one expects much from either of them, and yet, they both have top-15 rosters. ... So, I'm gonna circle that one."
As Pate points out, the two teams are projected to be at the back of the SEC, but are still relevant nationally -- with the "It Just Means More" conference prepared to retake center stage.
"Auburn at Oklahoma features the No. 10 and the No. 11 teams in the SEC odds right now. ... But here's what's funny about that: No. 10 and No. 11 in the SEC makes it sound like those teams are going to be terrible. But get this, they're 17th and 18th in the College Football Playoff odds. ... It's really just the fact that the SEC is pretty deep. Now we don't know how many elite teams there will be, but there are a lot of pretty good teams, theoretically, in the SEC this year," Pate said.
Oklahoma got the quarterback Auburn fans wanted, John Mateer, and were happy to move on from the Tigers' new starter, Jackson Arnold. The QB battle is not the only juicy storyline of the two teams' widely intertwined 2025.
Another: which of the biggest brands can keep pace in an SEC that's slowly being taken over by Texas's big spending and Georgia's opportune recruiting.
OU looks more likely now, but college football rarely goes completely according to plan.