With the regular season ending on Saturday, the College Football Playoff picture is clearing up. And the 82 teams set to play in a bowl have been solidified.
For Oklahoma, Saturday was a tease. Sooner fans sat and watched as BYU blew a 24-6 lead to the Oklahoma State Cowboys in a game that, had the Cougars won, would’ve sent the Sooners to the Big 12 title game.
The Cowboys came back and won in double overtime, punching their ticket to the Big 12 Championship game, where they will take on Texas.
The Sooners now focus on figuring out what bowl game they will play in. If the latest AP Top 25 indicates anything, they still have an outside shot at playing in a New Year’s Six Bowl game.
The Oklahoma Sooners come in at No. 12 in the latest AP Poll. The Sooners moved up a spot following Louisville’s loss to Kentucky. As we head into conference championship game weekend, here is how things shake.
At No. 1 remains Georgia, who comfortably dispatched Georgia Tech over the holiday weekend.
Michigan is No. 2 after they pulled off their third straight win over rival Ohio State in a defacto playoff game that eliminated the Buckeyes from CFP contention. Washington, Florida State, and Oregon moved up and round out the top five.
Washington escaped near disaster as they pulled off a win in the Apple Cup against in-state rival Washington State. This sets up another defacto playoff game between Oregon and Washington. The winner of the Pac-12 title will earn a spot in the CFP.
Ohio State sits at six, while Texas, Alabama, and Missouri remain at seven, eight, and nine, respectively. Penn State replaces Louisville at No. 10, while Lane Kiffin’s Ole Miss Rebels sit above Oklahoma at No. 11.
LSU and Arizona are the two teams behind the Sooners as Louisville slips to No. 15 ahead of their ACC title game against Florida State next Saturday.
Oklahoma State moved up two spots to No. 19 despite fighting for their Big 12 lives against BYU. One of Oklahoma’s nonconference opponents from earlier this year, SMU, came in at No. 25 in the AP Poll.
Oklahoma’s defeat of TCU secured another 10-win season and marked the 59th time they were undefeated at home. The Sooners saw a net gain of 8 spots from their ranking in the preseason AP Top 25. A win would likely guarantee they finish inside the top 10 for the first time since 2020.
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