Oklahoma head coach Brent Venables has a long history with the school he now leads as head coach. He began coaching there in 1999 as a co-defensive coordiantor and linebackers coach and held those roles until 2003.

The last two times these programs played was in 2015 when Baker Mayfield led a come-from-behind victory at Neyland Stadium to kick off the Sooners' first trip to the College Football Playoff. The win helped usher in a period of six straight 11-win seasons, pandemic year aside, and elevate the Sooners back to the top tier of college football.