Heading into the 2022 college football season, the Oklahoma Sooners will have something to prove on the field to themselves and the rest of the country. An offseason full of turnover has left some doubt despite finding themselves No. 9 in both the USA TODAY Sports AFCA Coaches Poll and the AP Top 25.
As he does throughout the season, Fox Sports analyst Joel Klatt released his preseason top 10, and the Oklahoma Sooners went unranked.
Whether it’s fair or not, the Sooners have work to do this fall to convince pollsters and, ultimately, the College Football Playoff committee that they’re one of the top teams. Win, and it should take care of itself. But as we saw in 2021, winning wasn’t enough. In this day and age, one must win convincingly if you want to find yourself as one of the final four teams in the College Football Playoff rankings come December.
In a bit of a surprise, no Big 12 team was included in the top 10, and sitting there at No. 10 was Lincoln Riley’s USC Trojans. Though USC added a ton of talent in the offseason via the transfer portal, they’ve got as many question marks as anyone heading into the 2022 season. Namely, can that coaching staff pull it all together? The offense should be good, but if the offensive line struggles, that could derail the whole thing.
Notably, Klatt has USC and NC State, both outside the top 10 in both national polls, ranked ahead of Oklahoma and Baylor, who were number nine and ten in the USA TODAY Sports AFCA Coaches Poll and the AP Top 25.
Let’s take a look at the top 10.