Tag: 2021 College Football Playoff

USA TODAY Sports’ predicts the College Football Playoff rankings. Where’s Oklahoma?

Ahead of the fourth release of the College Football Playoff rankings, where does USA TODAY Sports’ Paul Myerburg place the Sooners in his projections?

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After dropping their week 11 matchup with the Baylor Bears, the Oklahoma Sooners fell from eight in the first two College Football Playoff rankings to No. 13. The loss justified the committee’s positioning of the Sooners as a good team, but one they didn’t feel deserved to be in the top four because of their seemingly soft schedule.

A win over a good, but not great Iowa State team, changed the trajectory of this team a bit as they still have a chance to make the Big 12 title game and an outside shot at the College Football Playoff. Getting ready for the fourth release of the College Football Playoff rankings Tuesday night, Paul Myerburg of USA TODAY Sports set out to project how the top 25 might wind up.

In Myerburg’s projections, he has the Oklahoma Sooners moving on up to No. 9 after losses by top 10 ranked Michigan State, Oregon, and Wake Forcest dropped them from their lofty places among the nation’s best to outside the top 10.

Here’s what Myerburg had to say.

Getting back into the top 10 after topping Iowa State would be a big deal for the Sooners, who have the opportunity to notch two huge wins against the rival Cowboys in the next two weeks and be right on the verge of a playoff berth. It’ll take some help, but 12-1 OU would finish ahead of 11-1 Notre Dame and be ready to pounce should a dash of chaos accompany these last two weeks. – Myerburg

The Oklahoma Sooners were all but counted out a week ago after their loss to Baylor. It’s still an uphill climb for OU to reach the playoff, but like we saw last week, there’s still a bit of chaos that could unfold to allow the Sooners to make a run at the College Football Playoff.

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Where are the Sooners headed in latest Bowl Projections from USA TODAY Sports

Coming off the bye week, did much change for the Sooners and their possible destination in the latest USA TODAY Sports Bowl Projections?

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The Oklahoma Sooners still have a long way to go to earn a spot in the College Football Playoff in the committee’s eyes. But the task is a simple, yet not so simple one. Win, and they’re in.

“Championship November” is setting up to be one of the most critical and challenging runs in the Lincoln Riley era despite his team being undefeated and in sole possession of first place in the Big 12.

Matchups with No. 13 Baylor, Iowa State, and Oklahoma State over the next three weeks will pave the way for the Oklahoma Sooners to defend their Big 12 title run and provide the momentum to land in the top four of the College Football Playoff. Assuming they can win all three.

That’s a big assumption. But it’s one currently being made by USA TODAY Sports college football analyst Erick Smith. Smith has the Oklahoma Sooners as the three seed in the College Football Playoff in his latest Bowl Projections for USA TODAY Sports.

The Oklahoma Sooners would slide into a matchup with the Ohio State Buckeyes, which would be a lot of fun, given the history the two sides share over the last seven years.

For Oklahoma to realize their goals of winning the Big 12 championship for a seventh-straight time and making the College Football Playoff, the Sooners must start “Championship November” off with a bang in their game against Baylor.

The Bears are far from an easy matchup. They have a strong defense, and their running game is one of the best in the conference. If Gerry Bohanon can play mistake-free football, the Sooners will be in for a tough task taking down the Bears.

If all goes according to play, the Sooners will be sitting in a good spot with the possibility of a trip to the Cotton Bowl on the table.

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Oklahoma Sooners at No. 8 In the second edition of the College Football Playoff Rankings

Coming off the bye, the Oklahoma Sooners stay at No. 8 in the latest edition of the College Football Playoff rankings.

After debuting at No. 8 in the initial College Football Playoff rankings, the Oklahoma Sooners stayed at No. 8 in the second iteration of the playoff rankings.

Coming off a bye week, the Sooners at 9-0 stayed steady behind the Georgia Bulldogs at No. 1, the No. 2 Alabama Crimson Tide, the No. 3 Oregon Ducks, the No. 4 Ohio State Buckeyes, the No. 5 Cincinnati Bearcats, the No. 6 Michigan Wolverines, and the No. 7 Michigan State Spartans.

That’s a total of five one-loss teams in front of the Oklahoma Sooners, who remain one of just three undefeated teams in the top 10 of the College Football Playoff rankings.

Despite the Spartans’ head-to-head win over the Michigan Wolverines, they drop behind their in-state foe after losing to Purdue, who jumped into the College Football Playoff rankings at No. 19.

Oklahoma’s next opponent, the Baylor Bears, only dropped one spot in the playoff rankings after their 30-28 loss to TCU. A win this week over the Bears should move the needle for the Sooners ahead of their final two games against Iowa State and No. 10 Oklahoma State.

If the Sooners win out and then knock off a potentially top 15 Oklahoma State Cowboys in the Big 12 championship game, it stands to reason that the Oklahoma Sooners will have done enough to work their way into the College Football Playoff.

Coming out of the bye week, it’s not surprising that the Sooners couldn’t make any upward movement in the rankings as the committee doesn’t have anything else to go on to move them up. There’s a lot of football still to play and if Oklahoma takes care of business over the next month, they should be in great position to contend for a national title.

Pro Football Focus gives Oklahoma Sooners second-best odds to make College Football Playoff

Pro Football Focus projects Oklahoma to make the College Football Playoff. Here’s a look at the latest percentage chance for the Sooners.

As the college football world patiently awaits the second unveiling of the College Football Playoff rankings, one outlet loves the Oklahoma Sooners’ chances to make the College Football Playoff.

Pro Football Focus lists Oklahoma with the second-highest chance to make the College Football Playoff. According to PFF, Georgia is a runaway favorite with a 97% chance to make the playoff.

After that is Oklahoma, with a 71 percent chance to get into the College Football Playoff. Pro Football Focus also gives the Sooners a 66% chance to win the Big 12 championship and a 16% chance to capture the national championship.

From there, Pro Football Focus has Alabama with the third-best odds to make the College Football Playoff with a 65% chance and Ohio State at fourth-highest with a 62% chance.

Just on the outside looking in are Cincinnati and Notre Dame. Cincinnati owns a 45% chance to make the College Football Playoff, while Notre Dame sits sixth with 26% odds.

Oklahoma State is seventh-most likely, according to PFF. The Cowboys have a 15 % chance to make the CFP.

Michigan, Oregon, and Wake Forest round out the top-10 percentage chances to make the CFP. Michigan has an 8% chance, while Oregon and Wake Forest each have 3% chances.

FiveThirtyEight released its latest College Football Playoff projections on Monday, and they look quite a bit different from Pro Football Focus’ projections.

Oklahoma has the third-best percentage chance to make the College Football Playoff at 45 percent behind Georgia (80%) and Alabama (53 %). Ohio State was fourth in FiveThirtyEight’s projections, Oregon fifth, Cincinnati sixth, Oklahoma State seventh, Michigan eighth, Texas A&M ninth, and Notre Dame tenth.

All of these odds will continue to improve for Oklahoma if the Sooners keep winning as its schedule ramps up.

The Sooners return to playoff their bye week when they travel to Waco to battle Baylor at 11 a.m. on FOX this Saturday. Oklahoma head football coach Lincoln Riley knows his team is in for a challenge.

“They’re obviously much-improved offensively. Coach [Jeff] Grimes has come there and done a tremendous job. The quarterback is playing well. They’re running the ball well, making some big plays in the passing game. They’re, without a doubt, one of the most improved offenses in the country. Defensively, they’re good again like they’ve been. A lot of very familiar faces that we’ve seen for the last couple of years and some really good players up there. Pitre stands out, but there’s a lot of other very, very good football players on that defense, and they’re playing at a high level. It’s a complete team. Coach Aranda has done a tremendous job. They’ve got some guys that are really stepping up and playing well and, yeah, just a complete football team, so it’ll be a big challenge,” Riley said.

In Oklahoma’s most recent trip to Baylor during the 2019 season, the Sooners engineered the largest comeback in program history. After falling behind 28-3, Oklahoma outscored Baylor 31-3 the rest of the way, including 24-0 in the second half.

Then-OU quarterback Jalen Hurts finished 30-of-42 passing for 297 yards and with four passing touchdowns. Hurts also carried it 27 times for 114 rushing yards.

Riley reflected on what that 2019 comeback win meant for his program.

“That game, in particular, I think it did a lot. I do. Those wins like that are so… you know, you just don’t get opportunities to do those very often. To have the largest one in the history of this school was something very special. It was obviously a very meaningful game at the time. It kind of set that precedent for us that we’re never out of the fight. There’s a belief and expectation that no matter how a game starts out that we can always make a run. I’ve seen that even in past years, teams reference that game. Any time you have the insides and toughness as a team to come back and win from those, it gives you a lot of confidence for that team and for the program,” Riley said.

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Oklahoma out of College Football Playoff in latest ESPN bowl projections

In ESPN’s latest college football bowl projections, the Oklahoma Sooners find themselves on the outside looking in.

The initial College Football Playoff rankings weren’t kind to the Oklahoma Sooners who came in at No. 8 on Tuesday night. The Sooners were behind two SEC teams, three Big 10 teams, Cincinnati, and Oregon, while four of the teams in front of the Sooners have one loss.

It’s certainly too soon to panic or worry about the end result. If the Oklahoma Sooners win out, they’ll be in a great position to play for the National Championship in the College Football Playoff. However, there is some cause for concern that playoff projections from national analysts have changed their tune in just two days.

On Monday, ESPN put out its latest College Football Playoff projections, and they were still in on four of the 11 analysts polled for the piece. One of those was Mark Schlabach. Today, ESPN put out its latest bowl projections (ESPN+ subscription required), and Schlabach’s seen something in the College Football Playoff committee to change his mind on the Sooners and leave them out of the final four.

The Sooners haven’t been great, but as Kyle points out, they’re still 9-0 and playing in a Power 5 conference. The offense sputtered early, but it has been much better since freshman Caleb Williams replaced Spencer Rattler as the starting quarterback. The Sooners scored more than 50 points in three of the past four games. OU’s nonconference schedule (Tulane, FCS foe Western Carolina and Nebraska) wasn’t great, especially with the Green Wave and Cornhuskers struggling mightily. Like Cincinnati, the Sooners have plenty of room to move up, especially if they can win upcoming games against No. 12 Baylor, Iowa State and No. 11 Oklahoma State. – Schlabach

Oddly, both Schlabach and fellow analyst Kyle Bonagura listed the Sooners as their biggest surprise from the initial release of the College Football Playoff rankings. Both seem to think that the Sooners could move up as the season goes along. But then again, why not put them in your playoff projections if they thought they could end up in the College Football Playoff.

And these are projections. This is how these national college football analysts think the bowls and playoff will look at the end of the season.

Out of the playoff, both analysts have the Sooners heading to the All-State Sugar Bowl, where they’d face off with either Auburn or Ole Miss based on these projections.

It’s an odd turn of events for a team that’s playing its best football right now but finding itself getting less respect nationally or from the committee.

The Oklahoma Sooners can’t worry about any of that. The only thing they can control is what they do on the field. If they do what many expect them to do, the dominos will begin to fall, and Oklahoma will find itself better positioned for the College Football Playoff.

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ESPN has named its top 4 contenders for the College Football Playoff, is Georgia in?

ESPN has released its top ten contenders for the 2021 College Football Playoff. Find out if Georgia football made it here.

ESPN has released its top ten contenders for the 2021 College Football Playoff and Georgia football is named at No. 4, behind defending national champion Alabama at No. 1, Clemson at No. 2 and Oklahoma at No. 3.

Alabama, Clemson and Georgia are no surprise here. The Bulldogs return nine starters on offense, including their leading passer in quarterback JT Daniels, the leading rusher in running back Zamir White and leading receivers Kearis Jackson and George Pickens.

Georgia did lose six defensive starters, but retained the middle of the defensive front, featuring Devonte Wyatt and Jordan Davis. Experienced linebackers Channing Tindall and Nakobe Dean will be leading a young but talented secondary, including star safety Lewis Cine. 

The Crimson Tide are losing a large percentage of their production, but coach Nick Saban will reload behind the arm of Bryce Young, 2020’s No. 1 ranked dual-threat quarterback, paired with the nations No. 1 ranked recruiting class this year.

Clemson loses stars Trevor Lawrence and Travis Etienne to the NFL, but second-year quarterback D.J Uiagalelei steps in as the No. 1 ranked pro passer in the 2020 recruiting class and will be helped by a stout Tigers defense, who is set to return all 11 of its starters from last season.

The outlier here is Oklahoma, who finished second in the Big 12 in 2020 with a record of 9-2 on the year, 6-2 in conference play. The Sooners are most likely getting looks as a contender due to the play of young quarterback Spencer Rattler. The sophomore was the No. 1 ranked pro-passer in the 2019 recruiting class and put up good numbers as the starter in 2020. Rattler won’t be the problem, it is the Oklahoma defense that seems to always be a crutch. In 2020, Oklahoma ranked 83rd in passing yards allowed per game at 245 per contest.

Here is ESPN’s full list of title contenders:

  1. Alabama
  2. Clemson
  3. Oklahoma
  4. Georgia
  5. Ohio State
  6. Texas A&M
  7. North Carolina
  8. Iowa State
  9. USC
  10. Indianna

Make sure and check out UGA Football Live with J.C. Shelton. I sit down with UGA great Aaron Murray to talk college football, the Dawgs and his time in Kansas City with the Chiefs. Listen here:

 

 

Ohio State football among 2021 national championship favorites according to BetMGM

Early odds are out for college football teams favored to win the national championship next year and Ohio State is among the favorites.

The college football season has just ended, but we’re always looking ahead at a place like Ohio State. This past season was a winding journey that can be considered a resounding success, but falling just short of a national championship will no doubt left a sour taste in everyone’s mouth.

So, on the banks of the Olentangy, we’re already looking at what the potential is for next year, and with the recruiting classes that have stockpiled talent, the expectations won’t be much off where they normally are.

On that note, BetMGM Sportsbook has published its first look at the national championship odds for next season, and Ohio State is right up in the mix again. The Buckeyes have the third-best odds at +500, right behind Alabama (+300), and Clemson (+350).

OSU loses quarterback Justin Fields along with a lot of other key pieces, but it does return Chris Olave and a host of super talented receivers as well as some experience on the offensive line. There will need to be some retooling on defense, but the talent is there.

Along with the three big dogs already mentioned, here is the complete list of top ten odds to win it all according to BetMGM:

1. Alabama +300

2. Clemson +350

3. Ohio State +500

4. Oklahoma +700

5. Georgia +800

6. Texas A&M +2500

7. Wisconsin +3500

8. LSU +3500

9. Florida +4000

10. Notre Dame +4000

These odds are subject to change of course as things get closer to the season. More than that, as things progress during the 2021 campaign, they are sure to volley back and forth like an awkward Jim Harbaugh press conference.

 

Watch: Ohio State QB Justin Fields throws quick strike for a touchdown to pull within two scores

Ohio State is trying to get back into it in Miami. Justin Fields threw a quick strike for a touchdown to pull OSU within two scores.

Not much has been going right for the Ohio State offense since a Master Teague touchdown early in the second quarter. But after some halftime adjustments and holding Alabama to a field goal, the Buckeyes went on a scoring drive that took less than one minute.

Justin Fields had a 33 yard run after playing the read option to perfection. Right after that Fields lofted a nice ball to the back corner of the end zone that Garrett Wilson ran under and hauled in for six points.

The score put the Buckeyes within two scores. OSU now needs to get some stops on defense which will be easier said than done.

Watch Fields pass to Wilson below.

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Watch: Ohio State linebacker Baron Browning force fumble on Mac Jones

Ohio State got a key turnover against Alabama on a strip and fumble recovery by linebacker Baron Browning. It’ll need more.

Many times, championship games will come down to a few key plays and who can win the turnover battle. Chalk the first win of the night up to Ohio State as Baron Browning reached Mac Jones on a blitz and caused him to cough up the rock.

The Buckeye defense is giving up chunks of yards by design as they try to prevent the big play and keep everything in front. Pair that with well timed blitz packages and it looks like a solid game plan, even if it’s leaving most fans with knots in their stomach.

Watch momentum swing at just the right time on Browning’s key play.

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Watch: Jeremy Ruckert pulls in a one-handed catch to set up Ohio State touchdown

Ohio State TE Jeremy Ruckert hauled in a spectacular one-handed catch to set up an early tying touchdown in the national championship game.

After a three and out to open the game and giving up a long drive to the Crimson Tide, Justin Fields led Ohio State down the field to get on the scoreboard and tie Alabama at seen each.

Master Teague took a handoff around the left end and got in for an eight yard score. But it was the play before that would set Teague up when Tight End, Jeremy Ruckert pulled in a one-handed catch from Fields over the middle.

This is a matchup that Ohio State will look to exploit when it gets a linebacker in coverage on Ruckert.

Watch Ruckert’s spectacular catch below.

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