'NCAA Football 14': OU, Stillwater and Georgia Tech to SEC Dynasty Mode Build Season 1, Part 1—Initial Setup and Schedule

My first article for this was a smashed together mess when it was archived, and I lost a bunch of the text. I bogged it down with links which probably was the culprit. The majority of which where for winsipedia.com, the best source for college football series history and overall stats on FBS College Football Programs. So here we go again as I reintroduce our series here.

Essentially frustration with the current state of the Big XII led me to want to explore the possibilities for my Sooners in the other Conferences. To me the Pac-12 isn't worth it, and the ACC makes no sense at all geographically. And we've also seen how rough the Big Ten has been on our rivals Nebraska. I think they underestimated how hard it would be on their recruiting. So in many ways the SEC is an ideal scenario. I'd love to leave Stillwater, (I won't say that school's real name. There's only One Oklahoma!) behind in the cold, but unfortunately with the politics involved we're probably a package deal.

So for our new SEC I moved Alabama and Auburn to the East and sent Missouri back West for both geographic integrity and our former rivalry. There's actually some appetite in SEC Circles to have Alabama and Auburn in the East for competitive balance and to eliminate the need for some of the protected rivalries and possibly remove protected rivals altogether. I also decided to return Georgia Tech to the SEC in Kentucky's place. A terrible trade in the short term, but Georgia Tech does have a lot more program tradition.

Week 1: Alabama @ Oklahoma

Amazingly this wasn't even intentional, this is just the schedule the SEC gave us. Although I did set all Conferences to Conference Schedule starts in Week 1 without thinking about it. It's crucial to your enjoyment if you start a series as an Independent as it spreads out the open dates of all teams, and I've been used to doing that. OU leads the series 3-2-1 with wins in 2002, 2003, and the 2014 Sugar Bowl. Alabama won the Orange Bowl Semifinal last year and the 1963 Orange Bowl. The tie was in the 1970 Bluebonnet Bowl.

Week 2: Texas A&M @ Oklahoma

First meeting since the 2013 Cotton Bowl. First meeting in Conference Play since 2011.

Week 3: Oklahoma @ Arkansas

Pretty odd for Border States to have such limited history with each other. OU leads the series 10-4-1, but only 4 of those meetings have come since the 1920s started. With the 1978 & 1987 Orange Bowls as well as the 2002 Cotton Bowl being the only meetings since 1926. It's OU's first trip to Fayetteville since 1919. Only 1 OU @ Arkansas game in the entire history of my Green Bay Packers, inconceivable!

Week 4: Oklahoma @ Mississippi State

It's a brand new series, OU and Mississippi State have never played each other. Kansas State did win in Starkville this year in real life however. That's the only time I've watched them play that I can remember at the moment.

Week 5: LSU @ Oklahoma

My wife's from Louisiana and thankfully she's not that serious into it, but we do get a good anecdote out of it. During the 2004 BCS Sugar Bowl her friends told her that her husband must surely be watching that game, too. Funny how fate didn't bother to check my college colors. The only other meeting, and the OU Win is the 1950 Sugar Bowl.

Week 6: Tulsa @ Oklahoma

It should tell you something that Tulsa, Tulsa, has a better winning percentage against us than Stillwater. OU-Tulsa 20-7-1 (.268), OU-Stillwater 88-18-7 (.190). To be fair only one Tulsa Win has come after VE Day and in the 90s, but Tulsa was Texas's 'Extra Loss' last year as the Horns only won by seven, haha. I enjoyed that all year long and immensely. And the way I set this up, ironically I have to put my Pay-Per-View Game as warmup to Red River Rivalry. Take note new Conference Buddies, my 'Cupcake' isn't Grambling, Georgia Southern, Florida A&M or any of the other FCS Regulars you waste time on. My 'Cupcake' is a legit FBS Squad from what in the configuration I made is the sixth Best Conference according to the Conference Prestige Recruiting Ranking you can see in Part 3, Final Preseason Dope Notes. It's the CUSA since I had to start with the 2013 Conferences. It's forever a stain on EA and the NCAA's Legacies that this game died literally one year too early. One year before the College Football Playoff!

Week 7: Oklahoma (N) Texas @ the Cotton Bowl.

48-62-5 is the most damning statistic in all Oklahoma Sooner Lore. Especially as we beat Texas in virtually every other important metric.

As you can see it's not even that close and even 896 < 908 on All-Time Wins can be explained away by Texas's head start from being an older program. They've just had sensational fortune in the head-to-head. If we keep playing them twice a year semi-regularly with the Big XII Title Game open to everybody instead of having separate divisions anymore, we could catch up potentially if the Conference actually hangs on another 20+ Years despite cautious wishes to the contrary. It'd be hilariously funny and Texas's own fault for angering the Big XII North to all corners of the College Football Globe.

Week 8: Kansas State @ Oklahoma

I really wanted to keep Austin Kendall's Revenge Game on the Schedule, but West Virginia didn't have a compatible Open Date. Maybe in the BCS Title Game, or if I play theoretical Playoff Games in Play Now when we get there. Or I could just add it as a Bonus Game for the hell of it. Kansas State is a respectable foe and one of the last standing from the Big 8. I remember a kid-I-grew-up-with's dad drove like eight-ish hours every Friday Night before every Little Apple Saturday to be one of the Chain Game for KSU. Cool Story Bro; even better, it's a true story. Annoyingly I should've been paying attention and put us on the road for this as we were in real life this year. Especially with this being a revenge game now. Oh well, we'll have to let Tanner Mordecai or Spencer Rattler handle that duty for us in Year 2.

Week 9: Oklahoma @ Auburn

Like LSU, the only matchups here are Sugar Bowls, with one being recent in 2017, also 1972. Both OU Wins!

Week 10: Ole Miss @ Oklahoma

The only matchup here was the Y2K, December 31, 1999, Independence Bowl, first Bowl Game of the Bob Stoops Era.

Week 11: Bye Week

Week 12: Oklahoma @ Missouri

I will never forget Brent Musburger, usually a least favorite commentator of mine by the way, constantly telling us about "'Favored Oklahoma' versus '#1 Missouri'" in the 2007 Big 12 Title Game. First trip to Columbia since 2010, and first meeting since 2011.

Week 13: Bye Week

Bedlam Week 14: Oklahoma @ Stillwater

Pretty much covered this one in Tulsa's Section, haha.

Week 15: Bye Week

I know, I know 3 bye weeks out of the last 5 is ridiculous. This would never fly in real life for several practical reasons, but I decided picking Kansas State & Tulsa and leaving OU-Texas in the right spot was more important. I may have to tweak the Conference Rules for the Power (4) in the off-season and see if starting Conference Games in Week 3 instead gives us more options.

SEC Championship Game (Music City Bowl)

Doubt the SEC would do this, especially with ATL's New Stadium being legit. But it's easy to get sick of the Georgia Dome in-game, and the Big 12 Title Game was best with a rotation. Having that game in Dallas instead of rotating to Kansas City, St. Louis, San Antonio, and Houston just drives home the point of our frustrations with the Big XII-IV+II. So I'm thinking something like: Nashville, New Orleans, and Atlanta. Spread it around.

Every OU Schedule I've ever had, has had the Big 12 Title Game Date in the Appropriate Years, it's not expectation of making it. It's remembering the date because we go often enough to need to know these things.

So I guess when we get to the Postseason I'll play the Bowl Game we earn through the game, and play/and/or sim the theoretical Playoff Games in Play Now that the BCS Rankings give us. #BoomerSooner and thank you for your interest.