The Pride of Oklahoma marching band has been benched because of budget constraints

Oklahoma runs onto the field before an NCAA college football game against Michigan on Saturday, Sept. 6, 2025, in Norman, Okla. (AP Photo/Alonzo Adams)

PHILADELPHIA (AP) — Break out the sad trombone at Oklahoma: The Pride of Oklahoma marching band has been benched.

The marching band wrote on social media that budget constraints forced it to stay home instead of traveling to Philadelphia for Saturday's game between No. 13 Oklahoma and Temple.

The Saint Joseph's pep band pinch-hit for OU and led “ Boomer Sooner ” for the game at Lincoln Financial Field.

The Pride of Oklahoma wrote the band would still travel to all Southeastern Conference road games this season. The full band will travel to Texas and the pep band will travel to South Carolina, Tennessee and Alabama. The social media post said it was believed to be the first time the band had stand-ins play for it at a football game.

The Pride of Oklahoma has played at OU games for more than a century and includes members from over 70 different majors at the school. The band wrote on social media there are 342 members this year and that it was “actually going to be more expensive to take a fractional group to Philadelphia than all other SEC games combined.”

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