Momentum is building up on the recruiting trail leading into National Signing Day. OU has picked up its second recruit in as many days.
Momentum is building up on the recruiting trail leading into National Signing Day for Oklahoma.
A day after landing three-star linebacker Shane Whitter (Williams High School; Burlington, North Carolina), defensive coordinator Alex Grinch and defensive line coach Calvin Thibodeaux have hauled in the 42nd best player* in the country in class of 2020 defensive end Reggie Grimes (Ravenwood High School; Brentwood, Tennessee) on Thanksgiving.
The 6-foot-5, 240 pound defensive end chose Oklahoma over South Carolina and earlier offers from Alabama, LSU and Ohio State.
Grimes officially visited Norman, Oklahoma, for the Oct. 18-20 weekend when the Sooners beat West Virginia 52-14.
He becomes the 19th commitment for Oklahoma’s 2020 recruiting class. Heading into Grimes’ commitment, the Sooners had the 14th ranked recruiting class in the country and are now primed for a huge push heading into National Signing Day.
This is the second straight year Oklahoma has landed a recruit from Tennessee as freshman defensive back Woodi Washington hailed from Murfreesboro. Washington and Grimes are from the greater Nashville, Tennessee, area.
Grimes is the third member of Thibodeaux’s 2020 defensive class, joining Noah Arinze and Perrion Winfrey.
It is uncertain just how many more recruits Oklahoma can take for the 2020 class with four Sooners’ defenders already into the transfer portal and the future of Kenneth Murray undetermined with the NFL looming.
From the top-3 teams to Baylor and Utah, here’s a guide to the CFP scenarios.
Although the College Football Playoff race this season seems a bit less complicated than previous seasons, it’s still challenging to keep track of which teams need to win or lose and when if your team is on the bubble.
Generally, regardless of which team you root for, you want the top-3 teams, Ohio State, LSU and Clemson, to win out because if they lose, depending on which team it’s to, they could still make the playoff and take the fourth spot. For example, if LSU loses to Georgia in the SEC championship game, both teams could get in, which is not ideal for everyone else. Though unlikely, the same could be true if Ohio State’s only loss is, say, to 12-1 Minnesota.
So ahead of the final regular-season games for the playoff hopefuls with conference championship matchups looming, here’s a guide to help you keep track of which teams to root for and against in the next couple weeks.
If you cheer for Ohio State, LSU or Clemson…
Nell Redmond-USA TODAY Sports
Obviously, this one is pretty simple. The top-3 teams are in total control, on 11-game win streaks going into Week 14 and have at least an 86 percent chance to make the playoff. All they have to do is keep winning, and they’re in the College Football Playoff. And realistically, Ohio State could lose to Michigan and LSU could lose to Texas A&M, and they likely would both still make it as one-loss conference champions.
With its strength of schedule, Clemson is probably the only team that cannot afford to lose either this weekend against South Carolina or in the ACC title game to have a shot at defending its national championship.
However, for these three fan bases, you also want to probably want to root for Auburn to beat Alabama this weekend, which would hand the Crimson Tide their second loss and probably keep them out of the playoff for the first time. An Alabama loss wouldn’t help ensure Ohio State, LSU or Clemson contend for a title, but come on: Do you really want to have to deal with Alabama in the playoff?
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If you cheer for Georgia…
You want everyone else to lose and lose multiple times. The Bulldogs are 28.5-point favorites against Georgia Tech on Saturday, so that game really shouldn’t be an issue. But to make the playoff, they will likely have to upset LSU in the SEC championship game, which college football math suggests isn’t actually that outrageous of a goal. The Tigers currently have a 52.4 percent chance to beat Georgia, according to ESPN’s FPI, which makes this game basically a coin toss and probably a big reason why the Bulldogs currently have a 50 percent chance to make the playoff.
Brett Davis-USA TODAY Sports
But Georgia will also want a backup plan, however unlikely it may be. If it loses a close SEC championship game and finishes 11-2, it could possibly still make the playoff if the selection committee views it relatively favorably compared with potential two-loss conference champions around the country.
Bulldogs fans should root for Alabama to lose to Auburn and Minnesota to lose to Wisconsin, in addition to two-loss Big 12 and Pac-12 winners. Since it seems unlikely that Baylor will fall to Kansas this week, the best bet is for Oklahoma to lose to Oklahoma State for its second defeat of the season but then win the Big 12 championship game. And then in the Pac-12, you want two-loss Oregon to beat likely Utah in the title game. (If Utah loses to Colorado this weekend, USC will represent the Pac-12 South, which means the conference will have a two-loss champ either way.)
If you cheer for Alabama…
You want to beat Auburn, obviously, and then sit back and watch the college football world burn so your team’s 47 percent chance to make the playoff gets a boost. You need the top-3 teams to win out and maintain their positions, but you especially want LSU to beat Georgia in the SEC championship game.
From there, you’re cheering for Georgia’s backup plan. You want as many playoff contenders as possible, particularly the conference champions, to have a less favorable resume than the Crimson Tide. And, if the top-3 teams win out, Alabama probably will be up against Georgia, Oklahoma, Baylor and Utah for that final playoff spot. So two losses for everyone!
If you cheer for Utah…
And your team doesn’t beat Colorado, none of this matters. Utah lost to USC, currently second in the Pac-12 South, back in September. So another loss would put it in a tie with the Trojans, who would then win the tiebreaker. But Utah is a 28.5-point favorite over the Buffaloes, and if it does, it will advance to the Pac-12 championship game. Beat Oregon and win the conference, and it will look pretty good to the selection committee as a one-loss champ.
But for good measure, Utah fans should also root for Alabama to lose to Auburn and for a two-loss Big 12 winner, which would certainly help it in the eyes of the committee.
If you cheer for Oklahoma or Baylor…
Jerome Miron-USA TODAY Sports
You’ve got a one-loss team with a shot at the conference title. But first, Oklahoma needs to beat Oklahoma State, and Baylor needs to beat Kansas in Week 14. They could both lose and still play in the conference championship game, but they’d probably be eliminated from the playoff picture.
Both fan bases want their team to emerge as a one-loss Big 12 champion, and the best-case scenario would also include a decisive victory. But to all but ensure a playoff berth, fans should also root for Auburn over Alabama and a two-loss Pac-12 winner, which would likely Oregon.
If you cheer for Minnesota or Wisconsin…
You’re probably excited/very nervous about their Big Ten West matchup Saturday because the winner will play Ohio State in the conference title game. Wisconsin is a slim 3-point favorite in Minneapolis.
Now, both teams have ridiculously low chances to make the playoff with Wisconsin at just two percent and Minnesota at one percent. However, if the winner of Saturday’s game can ultimately upset Ohio State, it might be hard for the selection committee to deny it a playoff spot — especially if we’re talking about a one-loss Minnesota team. In that scenario, it seems like the Buckeyes would still get in if that’s their only loss, so the committee really couldn’t justify putting the Big Ten runner-up in without the champion.
Winning the conference is really the only hope here. A loss at any point would be Minnesota’s second and Wisconsin’s third, and that won’t earn a playoff spot without some colossal chaos around the country — and even then, it might not be enough.
If you cheer for Penn State, Florida, Michigan or Oregon…
Despite heavy speculation, the top two candidates for the Dallas head coaching job next year reportedly does not include Lincoln Riley.
Despite a heavy amount of speculation, Jerry Jones’ top two candidates for the Dallas Cowboys head coaching position next year do not include Lincoln Riley, but Urban Meyer and Josh McDaniels, per Bleacher Report NFL columnist Mike Freeman.
According to B/R’s @MikeFreemanNFL, the Cowboys “would have to win a Super Bowl” for Jason Garrett to keep his job.
Jerry Jones’ top two candidates to replace him: Urban Meyer and Josh McDaniels 👀 pic.twitter.com/r6EaXSssgG
Barring an unforeseen Super Bowl run from the Cowboys, Jason Garrett will not be the Cowboys head coach next year, Freeman reported.
With his success at Oklahoma, Riley’s name is often thrown around in the NFL rumor mill.
“They see it as a stepping stone deal. And that is true for players, for coaches it’s not.” Riley said on the Dan Patrick show in late October. “College and the NFL are similar in a lot of ways, I don’t know if you can say one is better than the other. I think it comes down to the individual person.”
For now, Meyer, who is currently retired, and Josh McDaniels, the current offensive coordinator for the Patriots, are at the top of Jones’ list.
Riley is currently preparing the Sooners for in-state rival Oklahoma State on Saturday at 7 p.m. in Stillwater to keep their College Football Playoff hopes alive.
Oklahoma’s climb in the College Football Rankings continues. After the 28-24 win against TCU, the Sooners are now eyeing a Playoff bid.
Oklahoma’s climb in the College Football Rankings continues.
The College Football Playoff committee has released its Nov. 26 College Football Playoff Rankings, with the Sooners climbing up to No. 7.
Oklahoma is coming off a 28-24 win over TCU that saw the Sooners need to overcome three turnovers by the offense to add another win to their resume. Brendan ‘Bookie’ Radley-Hiles had a game-clinching interception with under two minutes to go in the game that highlighted a stellar night from defensive coordinator Alex Grinch’s defense.
Just two weeks ago, Oklahoma fell to No. 10. The Sooners rose to No. 9 last week and now find themselves right in the thick of things at No. 7.
Here is how the rest of the top-10 of the College Football Playoff Rankings rounded out:
Ohio State
LSU
Clemson
Georgia
Alabama
Utah
Oklahoma
Minnesota
Baylor
Penn State
Oklahoma’s opponent on Saturday, Oklahoma State, came into this week’s Rankings again at No. 21. Iowa State fell one spot to No. 23, who the Sooners beat 42-41 earlier in November. Baylor, who Oklahoma beat 34-31 two weeks ago and will face in the Big 12, climbed up to No. 9 from No. 14.
The No. 7 Sooners and the No. 21 Cowboys kickoff Bedlam at 7 p.m. CT.
Oklahoma defensive coordinator Alex Grinch has been named a semifinalist for the Broyles Award…
Oklahoma defensive coordinator Alex Grinch has been named a semifinalist for the Broyles Award, an award given to the top assistant coach and or coordinator in college football.
After being named a prospect for the award on Nov. 14, Grinch has now been named as a semifinalist, one of the 15 remaining assistant coaches that could earn the award.
Grinch has made progress this year in improving on one of the worst statistical defenses in OKlahoma history last year.
Last year, under Mike Stoops, the defense was ranked No. 101 overall, and was the worst unit in the College Football Playoffs. This year, Grinch has them up to 31st overall in less than a year in his system.
Following Oklahoma’s back-to-back wins over Baylor and TCU, in which the Sooners forced game-winning turnovers in both, their defense is now the top-ranked defense in the Big 12 conference, giving up an average of 336 yards per game.
Lincoln Riley won the Broyles award in 2015 as the Sooners offensive coordinator.
Could Georgia upset LSU in the SEC title game in a couple weeks?
Ohio State, Clemson and LSU have the top-3 spots in the College Football Playoff locked up — at least, according to ESPN’s Playoff Predictor. A couple weeks ago, their chances to make the playoff were comfortably in the 80 percent range, and now, the Buckeyes are nearly at 100 percent while the two Tigers teams are in the high 80s.
The obvious takeaway here with such absurdly high percentages is that the Playoff Predictor — an algorithm based on a variety of factors the selection committee considers when ranking teams — expects those three teams to win their final regular-season games and, ultimately, their respective conference championships, which would basically guarantee their playoff berths.
None of this is new. The only undefeated teams left, these three programs have dominated their schedules, and even when they’ve been challenged, they survived. Here are their chances to make the playoff and win the national championship, according to the Playoff Predictor.
1. Ohio State (11-0)
Playoff: 95 percent Win championship: 37 percent
2. Clemson (11-0)
Playoff: 87 percent Win championship: 27 percent
3. LSU (11-0)
Playoff: 86 percent Win championship: 15 percent
(AP Photo/Gerald Herbert)
So let’s assume Ohio State, Clemson and LSU perform exactly the way they’re expected to, and look at the teams fighting for the fourth and final playoff spot.
4. Georgia (10-1)
Playoff: 50 percent Win championship: 7 percent
5. Alabama (10-1)
Playoff: 47 percent Win championship: 12 percent
Georgia has the fourth-best chance to make the playoff after beating Texas A&M, 19-13, in Week 13. But if our above scenario plays out, it means the Bulldogs will lose to LSU in the SEC championship game, which would effectively end their playoff hopes. However, should Georgia win the conference title game, both it and LSU could get in.
And with the Playoff Predictor giving the Bulldogs a 50 percent chance to make it, perhaps an upset in the SEC championship game is more likely than everyone thinks.
Going into the final week of the regular season — Georgia plays Georgia Tech on Saturday — the Bulldogs have a 46.5 percent chance to win out, which includes the conference title game, according to ESPN’s FPI. To compare, LSU, which plays Texas A&M on Saturday, only has a 44.2 percent chance to win out, and, at this point, is only slightly favored to win the SEC championship game. Georgia eventually beating LSU is the conference’s best-case scenario but the worst for just about everyone else.
(Dale Zanine-USA TODAY Sports)
After losing to LSU earlier this month, Alabama has no room for error, which means beating Auburn in Week 14 and then sitting back and watching the conference championship game play out.
The best-case scenario for the Crimson Tide making their sixth straight playoff appearance is for LSU to beat Georgia, so then their only loss is to arguably the best team in the nation. But should that happen, they also need to hope the selection committee views it more favorably than a potential one-loss Big 12 champ in Oklahoma or Baylor or a one-loss Pac-12 champ in Utah. How much do conference championships really mean?
6. Oklahoma (10-1)
Playoff: 12 percent Win championship: 1 percent
7. Utah (10-1)
Playoff: 9 percent Win championship: Less than 1 percent
Oklahoma has won its last three since being upset by Kansas State, but the wins haven’t been pretty. In Week 13 against unranked TCU, the Sooners had a 21-0 lead at one point before letting the Horned Frogs come back. They held on for a 28-24 win after beating Baylor by three and Iowa State by one the previous two weeks. That, combined with their loss to unranked Kansas State, is likely why both the Playoff Predictor and selection committee don’t have Oklahoma higher. Its best-case scenario is an Alabama loss this weekend and LSU winning the SEC — plus winning the Big 12, obviously.
Although its playoff chances are in the single digits, Utah is still very much in the mix, assuming it can win the Pac-12. Oregon losing in Week 13 to Arizona State hurts Utah a little because they both arguably needed each other ranked highly to bolster their playoff arguments. But Utah could still make it, especially if the Big 12 has a two-loss champ and Alabama falls to Auburn.
8. Michigan (9-2)
Playoff: 3 percent Win championship: Less than 1 percent
9. Baylor (10-1)
Playoff: 3 percent Win championship: Less than 1 percent
10. Florida (8-2)
Playoff: 2 percent Win championship: Less than 1 percent
Bedlam is on the horizon. Here is what Oklahoma State head coach Mike Gundy had to say about the Cowboys’ upcoming game against Oklahoma.
Bedlam is set up to be another weird and wacky game.
No. 7 Oklahoma (10-1, 7-1) will travel just an hour to take on No. 21 Oklahoma State (8-3, 5-3) in its annual in-state rivalry.
Both head coaches had their press conferences to preview Saturday’s game.
Here is what Oklahoma State head coach Mike Gundy had to say about the Cowboys’ upcoming game against Oklahoma.
ON THE CHALLENGE OF FACING JALEN HURTS
“You got to play five-on-five, six-on-six or seven-on-seven because of the willingness for them to run him and his willingness to run and he’s an extra guy. And sometimes against them, because they are triple option—you can watch the tape—the back comes here and he blocks, they fake to the other back, he goes up and block and (Hurts) runs the ball. That’s just triple option. In most cases, they are going to have equal numbers. So you have to be able to get off blocks and you got to be able to tackle. That’s what it comes down to. The more I watched it, I kept thinking, ‘There’s only one guy that ever touches the ball,’ and it’s him. He’s a one-man show.”
ON CEEDEE LAMB:
“He’s a good player. You can tell they missed him in the Baylor game. He’s an explosive player. Preseason, they threw it to him down the field. Once you got into the league play, where guys know each other, caught a lot of underneath routes, tweeners and a little bit of cross-country stuff. Good player.”
Georgia football dropped in CBS Sports’ CFB rankings.
It’s a good thing the only poll that matters is the College Football Playoff rankings. Well, at least for now. We’ll find out if I will still be saying that on Tuesday night when those are released.
But after a week in which Georgia did not look particularly great in a 19-13 win over Texas A&M in Athens, CBS Sports dropped the Bulldogs one spot in its rankings, swapping them with Alabama. The Dawgs remained No. 4 in both the Amway Coaches Poll and the AP Top 25.
Alabama looked good, sure. But it was against Western Carolina. The Tide may very well still be able to win a national championship over any of the playoff committee’s top-four teams, but if you don’t win your conference, let alone your division, you should not be given the opportunity to prove that.
Oklahoma has had a hard time covering the spread the last three weeks, including Iowa State and TCU coming back from down 21 to cover.
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No. 7 Oklahoma (10-1, 7-1) has had a hard time covering the spread the last three weeks, including Iowa State and TCU coming back from down 21 to cover.
That, still, has not stopped oddsmakers from giving the Sooners respect.
Oklahoma was its lowest betting favorite two weeks ago against Baylor, but the Sooners are its third lowest betting favorite of the year this week against in-state rival and No. 21 ranked Oklahoma State (8-3, 5-3).
Lincoln Riley and the Sooners will travel an hour north on Interstate-35 to Stillwater, Oklahoma, and have opened up as 12.5-point favorites, according to BetMGM.
The Cowboys struggled during the middle of the season, but have since rattled off four-straight wins, including one on the road at Iowa State. It’s Bedlam, though, so the throw the record books out and expect the unexpected.
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Oklahoma and Oklahoma State will kickoff on Saturday at 7 p.m. CT on FOX.
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An Oklahoma quarterback has found himself back where an Oklahoma quarterback typically is during the month of December.
An Oklahoma quarterback has found himself back where an Oklahoma quarterback typically is during the month of December.
Sooners’ signal-caller Jalen Hurts is having a historic year in his lone season in Norman, Oklahoma, and that has resulted in him being up for at least two national awards that have been won by Oklahoma quarterbacks the last two years. The Alabama graduate transfer is a finalist for the Davey O’Brien Award for the most outstanding quarterback in college football and the Maxwell Award for the best player in college football, it was announced Monday.
Hurts has thrown for 3,184 yards with a 71.4 completion percentage, rushed for 1,156 yards and has a total of 47 touchdowns thus far in the 2019 season.
He is up against LSU’s Joe Burrow and Ohio State’s Justin Fields for the Davey O’Brien Award and up against Burrow and Ohio State’s Chase Young for the Maxwell Award.
The winner of those two awards will be announced on Thursday, Dec. 12, at 6 p.m. CT at the The Home Depot College Football Awards, which will be televised on ESPN.
