When it comes to the College Football Playoffs only one Big 12 school has found its way into the four-team tournament. The Oklahoma Sooners’ four appearances tie them with Ohio State for the second-most behind the six appearances for Alabama and Clemson.
Despite the fact that OU has dominated the Big 12 Conference, that first semifinal victory in the College Football Playoffs has been elusive. The teams that will look to challenge the Sooners are the usual suspects in the conference with Iowa State, Texas, and Oklahoma State looking to take down the champs. Those teams were a combined 1-3 against Oklahoma last year.
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Spencer Rattler gives this team a chance with his return in 2021, the Heisman contender will need to raise his game. He must avoid the slow start as he had in 2020 for the team to compete and Rattler will have a plethora of weapons to choose from. Kennedy Brooks will reprise his role as the starting back with transfer Eric Gray and Seth McGowan joining in. Marvin Mims, Theo Wease, Jadon Haselwood, Austin Stogner, and Jeremiah Hall will be some of his biggest weapons. There will be plenty more but this team is chock full of offensive playmakers.
For the defense, they will be led by Nik Bonitto and Isaiah Thomas on the edges. The duo combined for 16.5 sacks and 23.5 tackles for losses a season ago. They will once again be tasked with being disruptive in the backfield. Perrion Winfrey and Jalen Redmond will look to control the interior. The big question is which linebackers will step up in 2021 with Caleb Kelly, Brian Asamoah, David Ugwoegbu, and DaShaun White being the main rotational guys. Can the secondary replace the production lost by Tre Brown, Tre Norwood, and Brendan Hadley-Riles’ departures?
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247Sports takes a look at some of the CFP contenders in a game of buy or sell. Are you buying the Sooners?
247Sports Says…
Even if the hypothetical price is high right now for these national championship contenders, there’s a good chance Oklahoma’s stock still hits the moon this season. Recently voted college football’s fourth-best coach nationally heading into the 2021 campaign, Lincoln Riley is still hunting for that elusive national title and looks to have a team that will be on the doorstep once again. Not only is Heisman frontrunner Spencer Rattler capable of a noteworthy season for the Sooners, but Oklahoma’s defense should be playing at its best of his tenure with guys like Woodi Washington, Perrion Winfrey and Nik Bonitto returning.
If you’re a believer in the Sooners winning big in 2021, you always have to love Oklahoma’s schedule favorability. This team will likely only take on a single nationally-ranked opponent the first 2.5 months of the season (vs. Texas) and won’t play another until Iowa State on Nov. 20. By that time, Riley’s team will know where they stand in the Playoff race and should be playing with maximum confidence given the relatively easy road prior to the home stretch. Everything is falling into place ahead of what should be a special season in Norman for a team that’s loaded at various spots.