Value is the name of the game, and this game is picking title contenders for the 2022 College Football Playoff. The Oklahoma Sooners are far from the media favorites to win next year’s national title as those expectations fall squarely on the shoulders of Alabama, Georgia, and quite possibly Ohio State
Bleacher Report decided who they were buying or selling as title contenders in 2022. The list features the current top 15 teams and is broken up into tiers.
Oklahoma landed in the Big Name Hopefuls tier accompanied by Michigan, Texas A&M, and Lincoln Riley’s USC Trojans. This group is full of teams with plenty of talent on both sides of the ball but certain circumstances around each team make winning a national title a bit more of a longshot than some of the others. Michigan has to replace a top-five pick along the defensive line, a first-round defensive back, a running back, and another NFL draft pick along the defensive line among other places as well. Texas A&M has to find a QB.
They have multiple names at the position but no one separated themselves in the spring and they enter summer with a full-on competition. USC is entering a new era of football with Lincoln Riley as their leader and he has a lot of renovating to do with the west coast power that became a shell of its normal self. the biggest area of need is figuring out what USC has in the trenches on both sides of the ball. As it stands, that is not a championship-caliber group of guys in the trenches.
For the Sooners, a new first-time head coach, a new offensive coordinator, and a transfer QB make up the bulk of their biggest question marks. Replacing guys at almost position group also is a big factor in how the world likely views the Sooners. Even with all of their question marks, Bleacher Report believes the Sooners are worthy of buying in on. Here’s why:
Other than UCF transfer Dillon Gabriel at QB, Oklahoma has questions on basically every unit. Despite that—and 2022 being Brent Venables’ first season back in Norman—the Sooners remain the Big 12 front-runner. When an annual conference favorite has these odds, it’s worth consideration.
Oklahoma’s talent and its reign over the Big 12 are well documented. Last year broke up a streak of 6 straight Big 12 Championships. An undefeated season or a one-loss Sooners team that wins the Big 12 title could be more than enough to get the Sooners into the CFP field.
Tipico Sportsbook has the Sooners at (+2500) to win the CFP. Only time will tell how true that is but at those kinds of odds, betting on Oklahoma to make the CFP and compete for a national title seems like a safe call.
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