Oklahoma is paying how much to beat up on Maine? Cost of Week 10 buy game

The Oklahoma Sooners' first season in the SEC is not going as expected — or hoped. Sitting at 4-4 and dwelling near the conference basement (14th), head coach Brent Venables needs a win to keep the pitchforks and torches away from his office.

Thankfully, the Sooners have a pillowy soft matchup on the schedule for Week 10. Oklahoma will host the Maine Black Bears (4-4) on Saturday in what should be a massive beat down on the latter.

Oklahoma secured the easy matchup with the small FCS school by agreeing to fork over $635,000 to the program from the Colonial Athletic Association last year. It will be the first time the teams meet on the gridiron.

Why does Oklahoma get an easy buy game this late in the season?

It's typical to see these types of nothing-matchups very early in the season as part of teams' non-conference schedules, but there are some that take place much later. Particularly in the SEC, which plays only eight conference games, you're likely to see some of these head-scratching contests. The Big Ten by comparison plays nine conference games.

Oklahoma did not typically have this kind of late-season "gimme" on its schedule prior to the SEC. But, naturally, it had to adapt, and thus, its athletic director allocated funds to get this one planned out.

The Sooners have scored 14 or fewer points in their last three games, all losses. So, Saturday's matchup with a much weaker Maine squad should be very much welcomed in Norman. There's no hope for Oklahoma's conference title hopes let alone any College Football Playoff opportunity, but a win would set them up to be just one more away bowl eligibility.

Oklahoma hasn't missed out on bowl season since the 1998 season, a 25-year-long streak spanning four different head coaches.