The Oklahoma Sooners have experienced an up-and-down 2026 season that has left them 4-3 overall and 2-2 in the SEC with five weeks left in the regular season.

The reality is that OU is likely only a few plays away from being 6-1, but execution down the stretch in those two games hurt them. Of course, the opposite could be said for Oklahoma's thrilling win over Texas, in which the Sooners made the plays they needed to make at the end of the game.

Now, with five regular season games left, the question shifts to what OU does next. However, that 4-3 record needs a little context.

According to both ESPN's Football Power Index (FPI) and the Southeastern Conference, Oklahoma has the highest strength of schedule in the country through the first eight weeks (nine weeks if you include Week 0) of the 2026 season. That means that the Sooners have played the hardest schedule in the nation through Week 8 action.

While Oklahoma's setbacks have left them with just the 26th-highest strength of record in the country, nobody has had it harder than the Sooners so far this season. OU also has the 13th-highest remaining strength of schedule, with games against South Carolina, Florida, Ole Miss, Texas A&M, and Missouri to close the season. That's quite the difficult stretch run, especially when it follows the hardest road to this point of UTEP, Michigan, New Mexico, Georgia, Texas, Kentucky, and Mississippi State.

As head coach Brent Venables would tell anyone who asked, the difficult schedule is not an excuse. It simply means Oklahoma has more opportunities to prove itself. The Sooners haven't played well enough to warrant being called one of the nation's top teams, but heading into Week 9 Saturday, nobody has seen a tougher slate than Venables' team. Certainly, OU has to be a lot better, especially on offense. What's happening right now on the scoreboard isn't acceptable in terms of the win-loss record.

However, perhaps Oklahoma is as deserving as any school of their place in the standings at this point in the season, deserving a little bit more frame of reference, especially as the stretch run approaches.