1948 Oklahoma Sooners football team

The 1948 Oklahoma Sooners football team represented the University of Oklahoma in the 1948 college football season. In their second year under head coach Bud Wilkinson, the Sooners compiled a 10–1 record (5–0 against conference opponents), won the Big Seven Conference championship, and outscored their opponents by a combined total of 350 to 121.^[1]

1948 Oklahoma Sooners football
National Champion (HAF, CFRA) Big 7 champion Sugar Bowl champion
Sugar Bowl, W 14–6 vs. North Carolina
Conference	Big Seven Conference
Ranking
AP	No. 5
Record	10–1 (5–0 Big 7)
Head coach	Bud Wilkinson (2nd season)
Captains	Homer Paine Wade Walker
Home stadium	Memorial Stadium
Seasons ← 1947 1949 →

1948 Big Seven Conference football standings

v t e	Conf.							Overall
Team	W		L		T			W		L		T
No. 5 Oklahoma $	5	–	0	–	0			10	–	1	–	0
Missouri	5	–	1	–	0			8	–	3	–	0
Kansas	4	–	2	–	0			7	–	3	–	0
Colorado	2	–	3	–	0			3	–	6	–	0
Iowa State	2	–	4	–	0			4	–	6	–	0
Nebraska	2	–	4	–	0			2	–	8	–	0
Kansas State	0	–	6	–	0			1	–	9	–	0
$ – Conference champion Rankings from AP Poll

Two Sooners received All-America honors in 1948, Buddy Burris, and Jack Mitchell.^[2] Six Sooners received all-conference honors: Burris (guard), Mitchell (back), Owens (end), Paine (tackle), Thomas (back), and Walker (tackle).^[3]

Schedule

Date	Opponent	Rank	Site	Result	Attendance	Source
September 25	at Santa Clara*		Kezar Stadium San Francisco, CA	L 17–20	5,000	[4]
October 2	Texas A&M*		Memorial Stadium Norman, OK	W 42–14	27,000	[5]
October 9	vs. Texas*		Cotton Bowl Dallas, TX (rivalry)	W 20–14	67,435	[6]
October 16	Kansas State	No. 20	Memorial Stadium Norman, OK	W 42–0	26,000
October 23	at TCU*	No. 18	Amon G. Carter Stadium Fort Worth, TX	W 21–18	20,000	[7]
October 30	at Iowa State	No. 16	Clyde Williams Stadium Ames, IA	W 33–6	9,985
November 6	No. 9 Missouri	No. 15	Memorial Stadium Norman, OK (rivalry)	W 41–7	39,297
November 13	Nebraska	No. 9	Memorial Stadium Norman, OK (rivalry)	W 41–14	28,000
November 20	at Kansas	No. 8	Memorial Stadium Lawrence, KS	W 60–7	39,000
November 27	at Oklahoma A&M*	No. 6	Lewis Field Stillwater, OK (Bedlam)	W 19–15	30,000
January 1, 1949	vs. No. 3 North Carolina*	No. 5	Tulane Stadium New Orleans, LA (Sugar Bowl)	W 14–6	80,383
*Non-conference game Rankings from AP Poll released prior to the game

Rankings

See also: 1948 college football rankings

Ranking movements
Legend: ██ Increase in ranking ██ Decrease in ranking
— = Not ranked ( ) = First-place votes

	Week
Poll	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	Final
AP	—	20	18	16 (1)	15 (2)	9 (5)	8 (5)	6 (13)	5 (30)

Roster

• Claude Arnold
• Jack Mitchell
• QB Darrell Royal, Jr.

NFL draft

Two Sooners were selected in the 1949 NFL draft, held in December 1948.^[8]

Round	Pick	Player	Position	NFL team
7	62	Myrl Greathouse	Back	Chicago Cardinals
23	225	Jim Owens	End	Pittsburgh Steelers

• Owens played another season for Oklahoma in 1949.