Oklahoma’s performance against Kansas may have been the worst display of football an Oklahoma team has put out in quite a few years. Did they win? Yes. Should they be thankful it didn’t come with bigger ramifications in the polls? Yes.
One day after ducking out of Lawrence, Kansas with a 35-23 win, Oklahoma dropped a single spot from 3rd to 4th in the latest Top 25 poll from the Associated Press. They were also leapfrogged by Alabama in the process who is just a few weeks removed from losing to an unranked Texas A&M team.
The Oklahoma Sooners also dropped to No. 4 in the USA TODAY Sports AFCA Coaches poll.
Georgia continues to hold on to their spot at No. 1 with Cincinnati slotting in at No. 2. Cincinnati, like Oklahoma, got themselves into a scrap that pushed them to the brink well into the fourth quarter. Ohio State, Michigan, Oregon, Michigan State, Iowa, and Ole Miss round out the top 10.
Oklahoma State’s loss to Iowa State dropped them to 15 just in front of Baylor at 16. The Sooners have to play both still as the season wears on. The record of Oklahoma’s first eight opponents was just 20-37 and the last four have a combined record of 22-7.
With the College Football Playoff rankings set to be availed in the next few weeks, Oklahoma will need to avoid performances like the one they put on against Kansas. They play better teams who absolutely can and will beat them if they start games the way they did against Kansas. To that same point, Oklahoma can end any narratives about their legitimacy as a playoff team if they beat the likely two or three ranked opponents they will face during the home stretch.
The Sooners have a myriad of things to clean up and will continue to hope guys get healthy as they go forward. Next week, they’ll host Texas Tech as their home conference slate nears its end.
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