Yeah, I just don't really think so. I mean, I can totally see why their staff would try to spin it to recruits this way, but lets take a look at it. They aren't going to be beating Alabama. They are going to lose most, if not all to LSU, Sark is better than Venebles, so Texas will likely beat them more times than not. Kiffin is better than Venebles, so I see Mississippi beating them more times than not. In complete honesty, they strike me in the range of Miss. St. and Arkansas. I could see them being about on equal par to them. So many 7-5 type seasons, with an occasional 9-3 mixed in.
Once again, I can see the Oklahoma staff trying to spin that Riley took all their talent to LA and once they reload they will be competing for the title, but lets be realistic. If you watch Oklahoma, their problem isn't that the talent left. They play in the Big 12. They are still way more talented than any team they are playing. The problem is coaching. The are very poor fundamentally. If you coach at all, you can tell they aren't coached well. The fundamentals are very poor. This isn't because they just inherited the program. Well coached teams are the opposite. In year one you can tell they are well coached and will improve because you can see their fundamentals. Poorly coached teams have bad fundamentals all year.
If the coaches are trying to tell players like Peyton that the reason they are struggling is because Riley took their talent to LA, but they will be good when they get "their" players in. That's just a falsehood. The reality is that staff isn't very good at coaching. Hence, usually around 7-5, 6-6 under this staff for Oklahoma for the next 4-5 years until the Sooners move on.