It’ll be a while before we know what Friday’s opener against UTEP means toward this goal, but as the 2026 college football season dawns, Oklahoma fans have their minds set on one thing and one thing only,Winning a national championship.It’s now 25 seasons come and gone since Bob Stoops shocked the world by winning the Sooners’ seventh national title.Nothing else matters.Brent Venables has a talented general manager and a new athletic director and a couple of recruiting classes coming that look very impressive.But Venables also has a brand new contract, a really sweet one that will pay him $63 million over the next six years. That’s 11th nationally among all head coaches.Immediate criticism came from Sooner Nation about the timing of Venables’ two-year extension. Joe Castiglione extended Venables two years ago after a 10-win season, and the team promptly went 6-7 for the second time in three seasons.Venables even gave OU back a million dollars after posting a losing record again, just to be able to help offset the rising costs of running a major college football team.Now, Venables and the Sooners are coming off another 10-win season and the program’s first playoff appearance since 2019.This team has the makeup to make a national championship run: a hungry, talented defense, an experienced quarterback, a seasoned offensive line and some nice players at the skill positions.Now that team has to perform.“Really excited about what they’re becoming and who they’re becoming in regards to their identity,” Venables said, “and really looking forward to watching them play against somebody else to see where we’re at. There’ll be plenty of things that we’ve got to get cleaned up, but really excited about the growth potential of this football team.”It won’t be easy. Not with road trips to No. 16-ranked Michigan and No. 3 Georgia looming this month just ahead of the annual showdown with No. 5 Texas.If OU comes out of that gauntlet with just one loss, count on these Sooners to be back in the College Football Playoff in December.But Sooner Nation knows that just getting to the playoff is not the goal. It’s good, but at OU — it’s not good enough.Just last year, the loss to Alabama — in Norman — left the fan base feeling hopeful about the future but, once again, empty about the present.We won’t know for sure if this OU team can win a national title by what happens Friday night at Owen Field. But we might know if they can’t.Sign up to our free newsletter and follow us on Facebook and X for the latest news.Add us as a preferred source on GoogleFollow