It's hard to say without seeing the tree. A few suckers wouldn't concern me at all, but when you say that the majority of the regular branches are dead, that honestly sounds like pretty bad news. The late freeze probably has very little to do with the decline of your tree. It may have added to the problem, but the drought and other factors are probably more to blame. If the tree was having problems (maybe even unseen problems) before last year, last years awful weather may have been the straw that broke the camel's back. Oaks are tough, but last year was hard on almost all trees around Tennessee. I lost two very large oaks, and a few smaller (2' diameter) ones when the really big ones fell on them. All together, I probably lost about 10 medium to large trees last year.

cranial,
I'm seeing the same thing on big mature oaks & hickories(as well as other species) throughout the countryside here, and in the woodlands on my farm. The Easter Big Freeze Disaster of 2007 killed back big major limbs on mature trees all over the countryside, and I'll differ with Brandon on this point - the 2007 freeze is almost certainly the principal cause of limb dieback on your oak.
The 'sucker' shoots you're seeing are technically 'epicormic sprouts' - shoots coming from latent adventitial buds all along branches and trunks; kind of like 'water sprouts' on improperly-pruned fruit trees or 'topped' trees in a residential setting.
What's the long-term outcome going to be with your tree and others similarly affected? I don't know. It would probably be advisable to have a certified arborist have a look at your tree and make recommendations for removal of dead branches - or possibly complete removal of the tree, if it's deemed to be a 'hazard tree'.

So sorry I haven't responded. We had a sick dog who ultimately died and I haven't been keeping up with everything lately.

I have to say that my personal opinion is that although there were a few dead branches in the tree prior to this, that all in all the tree was pretty healthy. it is right off the back porch and I was serious when I said i love this tree. it is the spot where all the birds from the feeder sit, and I spend almost all the time I am in the hot tub just looking up into it. I take notice to as much as I can see of it and what is going on with it. The first sign of any trouble was after the freeze. And judging from the woods, it's not the only one in trouble.

Thank goodness this hasn't been an unusual year for weather, although like always we could have usd more rain. i will keep you all posted on what we find out about it. And surely hope for the best. MAybe even a prayer. Julie

Hi there, Julie. Very curious to know how this played out with your tree 14 years after the incident. Did she recover? What ended up happening with the sprouts surrounding the tree - any noteworthy life coming from those?