The Norman Transcript
June 26, 2007
Sooners start things off at home
Clay Horning
The Norman Transcript
• Evans hopes tough non-conference schedule boosts RPI
Oklahoma soccer coach Randy Evans wants to go back to the NCAA Tournament. At the very least, he’ll have home field advantage most of the season. Not by much, but every little bit counts.
Announced Tuesday by Sooner athletic director Joe Castiglione and Evans, OU will play 19 regular-season games, 10 of them on John Crain Field at the OU Soccer Complex.
The season opener, also at home, is at 7 p.m., Friday night, Aug. 31 against Alabama A&M.
“We are obviously excited to begin the season at home,” said Evans, who is 72-70-13 (28-44-8 Big 12) over eight seasons with the Sooners. “This is a great schedule for us and it’s no secret that our goal is to get back to the NCAA Tournament and this schedule has the strength to obtain a solid RPI at season’s end.”
Beyond the Big 12, the Sooners have home dates against Oral Roberts, North Texas, Middle Tennessee State and Butler. Beyond the conference, on the road, the Sooners will play William & Mary, Virginia Commonwealth, Cal-State Long Beach and Cal-State Fullerton.
The schedule may lack opponents with high name recognition, though many of the non-conference foes are coming off big seasons last year.
Both William and Mary and Cal-Fullerton advanced to the NCAA Tournament last season, while Alabama A&M went 14-5, North Texas went 14-5-2, Middle Tennessee went 17-4, VCU went 11-6-3 and Long Beach went 14-5-1.
“Developing a consistent level of play in the non-conference segment is going to be important because there are no breaks in the Big 12,” Evans said.
As to the conference, the Sooners will play host to Baylor, Texas A&M, Texas Tech, Colorado and Texas, while visiting Nebraska, Iowa State, Missouri, Kansas and Oklahoma State.
The regular season closes in a rush, with Texas visiting Oct. 28, before visiting Oklahoma State Nov. 1.
The Big 12 tournament begins Nov. 7 in San Antonio.
Should OU return to the NCAA Tournament, it would be making its first appearance since 2003 — OU’s only appearance — when the Sooners finished the season 8-7-1 with a 3-3-4 Big 12 mark.
Last season, OU went 8-11-1 and 3-6-1 in the Big 12. The season ended with a first-round loss to Oklahoma State at the Big 12 tournament.