The Oklahoma Sooners are less than a month away from opening the 2024 season against the Temple Owls on August 30. Fall camp is underway as OU readies for Year 3 of the [autotag]Brent Venables[/autotag] era.
College football looks a lot different than it did just twelve months ago, and the Sooners are right in the middle of all the changes. [autotag]Conference realignment[/autotag] has shaken up the sport, and one of the most notable moves is Oklahoma leaving the [autotag]Big 12[/autotag] to join the [autotag]SEC[/autotag]. The [autotag]College Football Playoff[/autotag] has expanded from four teams from 2014 to 2023 to twelve teams for 2024 and 2025. [autotag]NIL[/autotag] and the [autotag]transfer portal[/autotag] continue to be shifting sands of the sport as well.
With all of the changes coming to college football in 2024, ESPN released their list of thirty teams they believe can reach the Playoff this season (ESPN+). The list was based off of ESPN analytics from the Football Power Index (FPI). 30 teams were given at least a 10 percent chance to make the [autotag]CFP[/autotag], according to ESPN’s calculations.
Here’s what college football analyst Heather Dinich, who wrote the article, had to say about the new possibilities in the Playoff.
“This is what the 12-team College Football Playoff is all about. Inclusion. Interest. A field so deep you need waders,” Dinich said. “Of course, there will be the familiar faces, as the SEC and [autotag]Big Ten[/autotag] have combined to win eight of the first 10 playoff titles, and that trend is expected to continue. According to ESPN’s Football Power Index, 12 of the top 15 teams are from those two leagues. The Allstate Playoff Predictor gives the SEC a 53% chance to win the national title and the Big Ten a 32% chance. They’re in good company, though. There are 30 teams — 30 teams! — with at least a 10% chance to make the CFP this year, according to ESPN Analytics. The CFP selection committee comprises 13 humans, though, who don’t always agree with the computers.”
Oklahoma made the list, and according to the numbers, the Sooners have a 36.6 percent chance to make the playoff. That number ranks No. 10 in the country. The percentage for OU to not only get in, but make a run through the playoff, and win a national title is 2.8 percent.
Half of the top 10 teams on the list are in the SEC. The Allstate Playoff Predictor gives the SEC a 53 percent chance for one of their teams to win it all.
Again, these numbers are based on the Football Power Index. That same FPI has predicted that the Sooners will go 8-4 in their first season in the SEC with a 5.1 percent chance at winning the conference. However, that model also has the Sooners as the eighth-best team in the country with a 17.2 FPI rating.
The road will be tough in the SEC but the Sooners won’t take a backseat to anyone. They relish the challenge of football’s strongest conference. [autotag]Brent Venables[/autotag] has spent two and a half years preparing the program for this moment and for the ones to come. We’re a few weeks away from seeing if the Sooners are “SEC-ready” or not.
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