Oklahoma Football: The Ins and Outs, Highs and Lows of the 2012 Schedule

The Oklahoma Sooners have wrapped up spring practice, so we won't end up hearing from them for another four months before the fall arrives. But during that downtime, it gives us the opportunity to break down their schedule and try to predict what type of season they're going to have.

Oklahoma will enter this season with the same goals it had last year, and that's to win a national championship. The Sooners return 15 starters and are talented enough to do so. The problem is can they run through a tough Big 12 schedule to get there? They don't exactly have an easy path this season.

As we get closer to kicking off the regular season, here is your 2012 Oklahoma Sooners complete schedule breakdown.

Easiest Game

The easiest game by far this season for Oklahoma will be the Week 2 matchup against the Florida A&M Rattlers.

When people show up to see your band and not your football team, that says a lot about the product on the field. This game will get ugly.

Toughest Game

Oklahoma has a schedule full of talented teams this year, but their toughest game has to be against the newbies of the conference. West Virginia is a team that returns 15 starters, including tons of playmakers on the offensive side of the ball.

The Mountaineers averaged nearly 38 points per game last season, and on paper look like they're capable of doing the same this time around.

Not to mention this game will be played in Morgantown, which isn't the easiest place in the world to play.

Potential Blowout

The game against the UTEP Miners is the first game of the season, and usually it takes a while before teams shake the rust off and get going. This should be a problem for the Sooners against a team that was ranked 86th in the country last season in scoring defense.

This is one of those games that you don't have to watch to know who won.

Potential for Disaster

Who would have ever thought the Kansas State Wildcats would have been as good as they were last season? Well, it's hard to tell that to Oklahoma, a team that clobbered them by 41 points last year, but still, this is a team that won 10 games.

Oklahoma has won eight of the last nine meetings against the Wildcats, but that doesn't change the fact that this team has potential. It returns 16 starters, including nine on an offense that was ranked 34th in the country in scoring. Quarterback Collin Klein returns for his senior season after having coming out of nowhere and having a very solid year.

The Sooners will begin the year ranked extremely high, and a loss at home early in the season isn't what this team needs.

Most Intriguing Matchup

This is a matchup that is very interesting because it'll tell a lot about Notre Dame, a team that has tried to gain some of that success it's had back in the day. It's a home game for the Sooners, but you just know the Irish will be ready and will want to prove themselves against a championship-caliber opponent.

The Irish return 15 starters, including eight on offense. If they can figure out the quarterback position, they'll have a solid team heading into the year. These teams have only played a total of nine times, and Notre Dame has won eight of those games.

Trap Game

Iowa State wasn't a good team at all last season, and yet the Cyclones managed to upset Oklahoma State and only lost by a touchdown to Kansas State. They also played decent against the Sooners, holding them scoreless in the third quarter and intercepting Landry Jones twice.

Oklahoma is 39-1-1 in the last 41 meetings against the Cyclones, but this team does return seven starters on offense, including their quarterback. They also have the home crowd going for them at Jack Trice Stadium.

Not saying Iowa State will pull off the upset, but a road game against this team right after playing Notre Dame is a major letdown.

Rivalry Game Prediction

Last year's meeting against the Oklahoma Sooners did not end very well for the Longhorns, as they lost by 38 points. This season, Texas should be a much better squad now that these youngsters have another year of experience under their belt.

With that said, though, I still don't see the Longhorns winning this game. Oklahoma is the more polished team, it has a true answer at quarterback and it should be getting running back Dominique Whaley back from injury.

The Longhorns, meanwhile, are moving in the right direction and should have one of the better seasons they've had in years, but it's hard to pick against a more complete team that has championship goals right now.

Oklahoma wins: 36-21

Upset Special

I'm not sure if this would classify as an upset, but assuming the Sooners are ranked higher than the Horned Frogs, it probably would be. We know what TCU is capable of; they've been the cream of the crop in the MWC, C-USA and the WAC for a long time. They're a physical team that plays stifling defense wasn't too shabby on the offensive end last season either.

They return six starters on offense and seven starters from a defense that only allowed 347 total yards on average. This is a solid program, and it's going to be interesting to see how they stack up against better competition.

I give them the best shot to pull off an upset, and it'd be a loss the Sooners couldn't afford, especially with this game being the season finale.

Heisman Highlight Game

With quarterback Landry Jones being in the Heisman conversation for a while now, it's only right to assume he's the most likely Sooner to have a shot again this year. He had another solid year last season, but throwing 15 interceptions and three huge losses didn't help his case at all.

The game I have him making a case for the award is against the Texas Longhorns. It's the Red River Rivalry, everybody will be watching, both teams should be highly ranked and it's against one of the tougher defenses in the country. The Longhorns had the best defense in the Big 12 a season ago and return seven starters from that unit.

Jones threw for over 350 yards and three touchdowns in last year's meeting; a similar performance will throw his name into the conversation.

Must-Win Game

The toughest game of the season for the Sooners will be the game they have to win. I'm really high on this West Virginia team this season and believe they have the goods to make a run for a national championship. These two squads may be the best in the Big 12 this season, and the winner of this contest will take that next step to accomplishing their goals and move up several spots in the polls.

With this game coming at the end of the year, a loss is something that the loser may not have enough time to recover from. The lights will be bright in Morgantown for this matchup; the Sooners must show up and take care of business.