OU football will win 10 games this season, but here's why it won't be easy for the Sooners

This is not a drill, college football fans: there are actual games that actually count this weekend. Now, there aren't a ton of them, but we aren't going to keep us from shouting from the mountaintops, "The season is here!"

And with the games starting, Oklahoman sports columnists Berry Tramel and Jenni Carlson wrap up the preseason dive into OU and OSU. They've looked at everything from their best players to their biggest concerns. Now, it's time to think about wins and losses.

How many games will OU win this season?

Berry: I'll say 10. Whether that's 10-3 or 10-4, who knows? But the Sooners' run of seven straight two-loss seasons seems in jeopardy. Here's how I view it. OU wasn't really an 11-2 team last year. That was a 9-4 team that just happened to win a bunch of close games. Will the Sooners be better on offense? Maybe, probably, but not for sure. Will the Sooners be better on defense? Maybe, probably not. So getting to 10 wins would be a nice achievement.

Jenni: Sooner fans aren't going to like to hear that. Double-digit wins are great in most programs, but great at OU is winning championships. Here's the thing, though: because of how up in the air the Big 12 is, it's possible a 10-win OU team makes the Big 12 title game. Maybe not likely, but I could see all sorts of teams beating all sorts of other teams in the league this season.

Tramel's ScissorTales:Why college football's regular season needs an extreme makeover

Berry: Oh, I'm with you. I could see OU losing a couple of conference games and still winning the Big 12. Every team has issues. It's just that OU's issues are greater than the norm in Norman. For example, this is the least-impressive Sooner tailback collection maybe since Bob Stoops arrived. Perhaps the freshmen can surprise, but otherwise... And the offensive line hasn't been great the last couple of years. Jeff Lebby's offense is going to have to strike some blows with tempo to recharge. And defensively, OU lost five starters to the NFL Draft, and that defense was just so-so to begin with. I know Brent Venables' defensive culture will help a bunch, but it can't make up for a lack of ballplayers.

Jenni: All of that is true. And with that in mind, let's dive into the schedule. Wins over UTEP and Kent State to start, and while I'll pick OU to beat Nebraska, winning on the road in Lincoln won't be easy. Home games during Big 12 play will be against Kansas State, Kansas, Baylor and Oklahoma State. OU would beat Kansas if they played on the surface of Mars, but having those other three teams in Norman is good. Doesn't make for automatic wins, but you have to think OU can at least split those four home games. Conference road games at TCU, Iowa State, West Virginia and Texas Tech plus the annual neutral site game against Texas. Can OU win four of those five?

Berry: You're right. The schedule provides a break. Three automatic wins (UTEP, Kent State, Kansas). The TCU and Tech games are almost automatic. So that's five wins. ISU and West Virginia are likely wins. Let's call them 1.5. So that's 6.5 wins, with Nebraska, KSU, Texas, Baylor and OSU. Texas, Baylor and OSU look like tossups. So let's call that 1.5. That makes for eight wins with Nebraska and K-State left, so that's approaching 10. A bowl game would be a tossup, and a Big 12 title game would be a tossup. So an 11-3 type season (or even 12-2, I suppose) is possible. But this season, moreso than any in recent years, has a bunch of games that could go either way, unless Venables produces a major defensive renaissance.

Jenni: For a little comparison, I went back to look at how many close games Venables won as a in 1999 in his first year as co-defensive coordinator at OU, then in 2012 in his first year as defensive coordinator at Clemson. In 1999, OU was 0-5 in games decided by 14 points or less while Clemson was 2-2 in such games in 2012. Winning tight games isn't always easy in the first season of a new system, and with OU having a new offense and a new defense, it adds to the challenge. I got OU getting to 10 wins, but I don't think it will be easy.

This article originally appeared on Oklahoman: OU football: Predicting Sooners record tough with more issues than normal