After getting into the final 12-seed playoff bracket on Monday, the Oklahoma university is going above and beyond for Brent Venables and the football team. Word around Norman is that the university is shutting down campus for the entire day on December 19th when they play Kalen DeBoer’s Alabama.

On December 9th, ESPN hopped onto X and revealed the news: “ The University of Oklahoma is cancelling classes for the Sooners’ home CFP game against Alabama 😯”

The Sooners are making their first playoff appearance since 2019, and OU is going all-in. Giving everyone the day off basically guarantees the entire student body shows up, so the university is shutting things down.

The Norman campus will pause all normal classes and work operations on Friday, December 19 — no in-person classes, and non-essential staff gets the day off, too. It is a bold move that shows just how much the school believes in Brent Venables and the Sooners’ chances.

And honestly, they had to do it. A game of this magnitude is going to pull insane traffic, insane crowds, and guaranteed chaos with parking and just moving around safely. Instead of forcing everyone to navigate with this caliber of mess, OU and the administration figured it was easier to just clear everybody out.

To make sure students don’t get burned academically, any final exams set for that Friday got rescheduled earlier in the week. Even the local public schools in Norman are closing down, so the whole town is getting ready for game day. So basically, the whole town of Norman is shutting down to support Brent Venables against Kalen DeBoer.

The game itself is a first-round matchup in the new 12-team playoff, with the No. 8 seed Oklahoma Sooners hosting the No. 9 seed Alabama Crimson Tide. The winner gets to move on to play the No. 1 seed, Indiana, in the quarterfinals of the playoff. Oklahoma Sooners have a historic record of 82% when winning at home. This season, they are 7-1 at Gaylord Family – Oklahoma Memorial Stadium.

Interestingly, this CFP game is actually a rematch. Oklahoma already played Alabama earlier this season in November down in Tuscaloosa. All thanks to the Sooners’ defense. They were rock-solid, forced three turnovers, and snapped Bama’s home winning streak. That win makes this upcoming playoff showdown even more anticipated.

Alabama is definitely coming to Norman looking for some revenge and a score to settle. However, Brent Venables believes in his team’s indomitable human spirit will come in clutch.

Brent Venables believes his Sooners can dash with anyone in this playoff

No doubt this is Brent Venables’ biggest challenge of his career. Brent Veanbles believes his team is ready to ball out:

“I’m thankful just for the magnitude of this season,” Venables said on a video press conference Sunday. “Every game has this enormous magnitude.”

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Venables genuinely believes his players are used to pressure by now. His team has been living in big-moment situations all year. It hasn’t been an easy season, either. OU started 5–0 but then dropped two of three, losing to Texas and Ole Miss.

From that point on, Venables knew another loss would knock them out of the playoff race. Their final four games against Tennessee, Alabama, Missouri, and LSU were basically win-or-go-home scenarios. Still, he reminded people that his team kept battling no matter what was at stake.

Despite being down most of the game, they found ways to win on the road in Knoxville and Tuscaloosa, even when the offense was inconsistent. They also battled through close games against the teams like Mizzou and LSU at home. Venables said that OU rose to the occasion simply because of their grit and belief in each other. That’s exactly how they hit 10 wins and a home-seed in the playoff.