Oklahoma Sooners is the name of the sports program of the University of Oklahoma, located in the city of Norman, Oklahoma, USA. The program is best known for its men’s football club, which competes in Division I of the NCAA and is a member of the Big 12 Conference.
Oklahoma Sooners is an athletic program of the University of Oklahoma, a public research educational institution, founded in 1890. Apart from its 152 baccalaureate and 160 master’s programs, the University is known for its sports division.
The Oklahoma Sooners program is composed of 19 teams, where men and women compete in ten sports disciplines. The most famous of all the clubs in the program is the man’s football team. Although, all other teams are strong too, and they all compete in the first division of the National Collegiate Athletic Association.
This one is actually a direct inspiration for the later emblems of this team. They placed ‘O’ and ‘U’ (for ‘Oklahoma University’) in a position where the latter is a bit lower and to the right, but pierces the center of the former. The style, unlike in the later versions, is a generic sans-serif, while the color is still burgundy.
Eventually, the Oklahoma Sooners logo got its current look in 2000.
A darker red tone was adopted in 2018.
So far, the Sooners have claimed seven consensus national championships won by selection in the major college football polls. Apart from these, in ten other seasons, the university has been placed atop lists by selectors designated by the NCAA as “major”, primarily on the basis of math rating formulas. However, we should add that math formula rankings are typically not recognized as national championships.
Additionally, the team has captured 48 conference titles.
As of 2019, the men’s basketball team of the University of Oklahoma has been the NCAA Tournament Runner-up two times. They have made 32 NCAA Tournament appearances and reached the NCAA Tournament Final Four on five occasions.
The women’s team was the NCAA Tournament Runner-up in 2002. They have made 21 NCAA Tournament appearances and reached the Final Four on three occasions. Their head coach is Sherri Coale. They compete in the Big 12 Conference of NCAA Division I.
The softball team has been the NCAA Tournament champions four times, while the total number of the NCAA Tournament appearances has reached 25. Also, the Sooners have had 13 NCAA WCWS appearances.
The Sooners compete in the NCAA Division I. They were the NCAA Tournament champions in 1951 and 1994.
What is Oklahoma Sooners?
Oklahoma Sooners is the name of the Athletics division of the University of Oklahoma, which consists of various men’s and women’s teams competing in different sports disciplines. The program became famous thanks to the success of its men’s football club.
The design of the Oklahoma Sooners helmets has changed significantly throughout the years. Starting with the color palette, and finishing with the contours of the logo, the evolution of the athletic program can easily be traced by how the helms looked during the years. Let’s take a closer look at them.
The Oklahoma Sooners helmets from the 1960s featured white as the main color. Those were very simple helms mouth the minimalistic gray grille, made of just one bar. There were two bright accents: a wide dark-red stripe in the middle of the helmet and delicate players’ numbers on the sides, set in the same shade of red.
In 1966 the main color of the Sooners’ helmets was switched to dark red, closer to burgundy. The grille got larger but was still set in metallic gray. As for the stripe, it turned white. The numbers of the players were replaced by the bold white “OU” monograms in a neat modern sans-serif typeface.
The design from 1977 was stronger and more minimalistic than the previous ones. The grille turned white, while the white stripe from the center of the helmet was removed. As for the logo on the sides of the helms, it was redrawn more geometrically, with angular contours of the enlarged characters.
The new version of the Oklahoma Sooners helmet design was introduced in 2005. All the elements remained in their places, but the contours of the monogram got slightly extended and emboldened, making up a more brutal look for the players on the field.
In 2018 the shape of the Oklahoma Sooners helmets got more modern and masculine. As for the design concept, it remained the same, but the “OU” emblem was strengthened and got its contours more distinctive. The white grille also got sharped and more brutal.
Even though the official color palette of the University of Oklahoma is crimson and cream, the athletes of the Oklahoma Sooners program wear mainly crimson and white uniforms, with just one exception — the football team.
The uniform of the Oklahoma Sooners basketball team has two options: the home one is composed of white t-shirts and shorts with crimson stripes on the sides, and the uniform for the games away is all crimson with white stripes.
The Oklahoma Sooners football team has four available uniform designs, two in a white and crimson color palette, and the other two — in crimson and cream. And it the white and crimson ones have their jerseys solid, and the cream versions have contrasting collar lines or sleeves. The pants in all the uniforms have three stripes on the sides: a white or cream one is enclosed between two crimson ones.
The uniforms of the soccer players from the University of Oklahoma are pretty modest and simple. For home games they are composed of white jerseys with crimson stripes on the sides, solid white shorts, and white gaiters; while the away version has crimson jerseys with white stripes, and solid crimson shorts and gaiters.
The University of Oklahoma has several modern and comfortable sports facilities built for the convenience of the Oklahoma Sooners athletes. Apart from the main stadiums, where the football, basketball, and baseball teams of the program train and compete, the university also has facilities for tennis, golf, and softball.
The home ground of the Oklahoma Sooners football team is the Gaylord Family Oklahoma Memorial Stadium, which was built in 1923 and has undergone several renovations throughout the years, with the latest one in 2016. The capacity of more than 80 thousand seats makes this facility one of the 13 largest college stadiums in the country.
The L. Dale Mitchell Baseball Park has served as the home arena for the Oklahoma Sooners baseball team since the day of its opening, in 1982. The stadium was renovated several times, but those were mainly minor changes. Today the ground has a capacity of almost 3,2 thousand seats.
The players of the men’s and women’s basketball teams of the Oklahoma Sooners athletic program have their home ground in the Lloyd Noble Center, a multipurpose arena, which opened its doors in 1975 and was renovated in 2001. The capacity of the facility was changed several times throughout the years and today it is almost 11 thousand seats.
Until the opening of the Lloyd Noble Center, McCasland Field House was the main ground for the Sooners basketball teams. But from 1975 it started being used mainly by the volleyball, wrestling, and gymnastic teams of the program. Built in 1928, the arena has a capacity of 5 thousand seats.
The first image of Sooner Schooner was created in 1964, however, it became the official mascot of the Oklahoma Sooners athletic program only in 1980. The Schooner, a wagon, inspired by the historical Studebaker Conestoga, in white and crimson is led by two white ponies, which also have their names — Sooner and Boomer.
OKLAHOMA CRIMSON
HEX COLOR: #841617;
RGB: (132, 23, 25)
CMYK: (0,100,65,34)
PANTONE: PMS 201 C
THREAD: MADEIRA 1181, RA 2267, POLYNEON 1982
OKLAHOMA CREAM
HEX COLOR: #FDF9D8;
CMYK: (6,8,23,0)
PANTONE: PMS 468 C
RGB: (253, 249, 216)