This year in the Big 12, it’s down to Oklahoma and Baylor. The three biggest storylines ahead of the two’s matchup on Saturday.
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This year it’s down to No. 10 Oklahoma (8-1, 5-1) and No. 13 Baylor (9-0, 6-0) to see which team might have a shot at the College Football Playoff from the Big 12.
Here are the three biggest storylines ahead the Sooners matchup with the undefeated Bears.
IS BAYLOR THE REAL DEAL?
Under Matt Rule, Baylor is one of the five remaining undefeated teams in the country. At 9-0, they’ve defeated a vast majority of the Big 12, with just a few teams left to go. And yet, Oklahoma is still ranked ahead of them in virtually every poll. This week, we’ll see what Baylor’s made of, and see if they’re pretenders or contenders.
CLOSING IT OUT
Both teams have been riding the line recently, as Baylor has won five of their games by 8 points or less, and Oklahoma has gotten in two shootouts, one resulting in a 7 point loss to Kansas State, and one a one-point win over Iowa State. If it’s close, we’re going to see what each team is made of. If it’s a blowout, you could be looking at the fourth College Football Playoff team.
ALEX GRINCH’S RALLY
Earlier in the year the “Speed D” was working like a well-oiled machine. But in the past few weeks, that machine has broken down, and almost looks unrepairable. Baylor’s offense has been spotty throughout the season, and it will be the perfect time for Oklahoma to take advantage. If the Sooners can’t produce stops against Baylor, it will spell bad news for their College Football Playoff hopes.
Oklahoma continues to target the Dallas-Fort Worth area for receivers. The Sooners second receiver from the 2020 class committed Thursday.
Oklahoma continues to target the Dallas-Fort Worth area for pass-catchers.
After landing a trio from the DFW metroplex in 2019, the Sooners have landed their second for the 2020 class. Three-star receiver Marvin Mims (Frisco Lone Star; Frisco, Texas) announced that he was flipping from Stanford to Oklahoma Thursday night, making him the Sooners 18th commitment for the 2020 class.
Mims committed to Stanford over Oklahoma and a handful of other suitors on Aug. 14. As the season went on, the idea of Mims looking back towards the Sooners came to fruition with a visit and flip from the Cardinal.
The 6-foot-1, 168 pound receiver joins Trevon West as the receivers for this 2020 class. While West has the speed, Mims has the intangibles, route-running and toughness in the slot that has fit well at Oklahoma, most recently with Sterling Shepard.
Head coach Lincoln Riley and Oklahoma are likely done at the skill positions for the 2020 class after Thursday’s commitment.
The first national signing day is just over a month away on Dec. 18.
The Sooners are donning their alternate uniforms, the Rough Riders, in their top-ranked matchup with Baylor this week. It will be the first time this year we’ve seen the white version of the uniforms.
Oklahoma is ready to ride.
The Sooners are donning their alternate uniforms, the Rough Riders, in their top-ranked matchup with Baylor this week. It will be the first time this year we’ve seen the white version of the uniforms.
Oklahoma has worn their alternates only one other time this year, against West Virginia in Week 9, when the Sooners won 52-14. This will be the third consecutive year Oklahoma has brought out their alternates for Baylor.
Since then, Oklahoma has lost by one touchdown to Kansas State, and won by just a point against Iowa State.
Many analysts think the Sooners are in “win and get-in” mode from here on out, and on Saturday they’ll be in it in their Rough Riders.
Baylor is currently ranked No. 13 in the College Football Playoff rankings, with Oklahoma coming in at No. 10. With a win over the Bears, the Sooners could vault ahead.
Three teams were disrespected by the selection committee in the second College Football Playoff rankings, which were released Tuesday.
This is a subjective process, so it will never be perfect. But clearly, the committee holds some teams to certain standards and other teams to different ones. Some teams’ one-loss records hold up against undefeated squads, while other unbeaten teams can’t seem to do enough to get respect (even when they’re literally doing all they can). All wins and all losses aren’t equal, of course, but how is a win over a top-4 team less valuable than a loss to a top-4 team?
These rankings obviously don’t mean a whole lot in the middle of November because we have no idea what the College Football Playoff picture will look like in a few weeks. But they offer a little insight into the committee’s logic.
They also do a nice job of riling up college football fans, and the people who cheer for these three disrespected teams are right to be outraged.
No. 8 Minnesota (9-0)
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What exactly do the Golden Gophers have to do to get a little respect? Plenty of people underestimated them against Penn State — For The Win included — but they took down a team the selection committee initially identified as the fourth best in the country. And the game was not nearly as close as the final 31-26 score. Minnesota was up, 24-10, at one point against a team just about everyone assumed it would lose to badly.
Minnesota debuted this season in the rankings at No. 17, which already seemed absurdly low. And then the Golden Gophers knocked off the No. 4 team and only rose to eighth, which is still the largest jump into the top 10 in the CFP era, per ESPN. Looking at the seven teams ahead of Minnesota, LSU is the only other that can say it beat a top-4 team, and it’s appropriately No. 1. But Minnesota should be higher than it is.
The logic for putting No. 4 at Georgia is its big wins against Florida and Notre Dame matter more than one bad loss to South Carolina. Minnesota has no losses, a massive win and a top-four strength of record, but it’s four spots behind the Bulldogs. We’re not saying the Golden Gophers should be No. 4, but anything less than No. 6 or even No. 7 this week is disrespectful.
No. 13 Baylor (9-0)
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Unlike Minnesota, Baylor doesn’t have a win over a top-4 opponent. Actually, it hasn’t played a ranked opponent yet and needed triple-overtime to beat a TCU team that’s now 4-5. But the Bears are still undefeated and deserve to at least be closer to the top 10. Instead, their No. 13 spot is the lowest ranking by a 9-0 Power Five team in the CFP era, according to ESPN.
There are six one-loss teams and two two-loss teams ranked ahead of Baylor, and many one-loss teams deserve to be there. Despite Baylor’s No. 65 strength of schedule (which is still four spots higher than Clemson), it has the No. 3 strength of record, putting it higher than Auburn (No. 7) and Florida (No. 9). This undefeated Bears team should probably be No. 11, and if it beats Oklahoma this weekend, it needs to crack the top eight at least.
No. 18 Memphis (8-1)
Surprise! A team from a Group of Five conference is being disrespected. The Tigers have a two-point loss to Temple, which is important to remember. But in Week 10, they also beat a good and previously undefeated SMU team, 54-48, before having a bye last week. (And SMU actually dropped out of the rankings this week after debuting at No. 25, despite winning in Week 11. Just because the committee wants to add Appalachian State to the top-25 doesn’t mean it has to drop another Group of Five team.)
Memphis jumped three places in this week’s rankings, but maybe it should have been a couple spots more, especially when we know the committee won’t seriously consider a Group of Five team for the playoff anyway, regardless of record.
After a big win by Minnesota and a close call against Iowa State, Oklahoma actually fell in the College Football Playoff Rankings.
After a big win by P.J. Fleck’s Golden Gophers and a close call against Iowa State, Oklahoma actually fell in the College Football Playoff Rankings.
The CFP committee released its second rankings of the 2019 season Tuesday night, and the Sooners fell one spot to No. 10 as Minnesota entered the top-10 and Penn State didn’t fall below them.
No. 10 Oklahoma was up 42-21 on Iowa State halfway through the third quarter. The Cyclones put together a productive drive right before the third-quarter ended, then punched in a touchdown early in the fourth-quarter on the way to scoring 20-straight. A failed two-point conversion attempt cost Iowa State a chance to upset the Sooners on the road.
Here is how the rest of the top-10 of the College Football Playoff Rankings rounded out:
LSU
Ohio State
Clemson
Georgia
Alabama
Oregon
Utah
Minnesota
Penn State
Oklahoma
Kansas State stayed in the top-25 after a loss to Texas at No. 24 and Oklahoma State stayed in at No. 22. The Longhorns entered the rankings at No. 19.
Oklahoma will take on No. 13 Baylor, who fell one spot in this week’s rankings, Saturday at 6:30 p.m. CT on ABC.
The Sooners have two games left against current top-25 opponents with this week against the Bears and on Nov. 30 against Oklahoma State.
As Alex Grinch moves towards getting his own defenders to Oklahoma, transfers are inevitable and that number is rising.
Oklahoma has lost another defender to the transfer portal.
Redshirt freshman Jaquayln Crawford—who started out his career in Norman, Oklahoma, as a receiver—has entered the transfer portal, according to a report from The Athletic’s Jason Kersey.
#Sooners redshirt freshman WR-turned-CB Jaquayln Crawford has entered the transfer portal. He's appeared in one game during his career.
Crawford was a highly touted athlete out of Rockdale, Texas, that had the top-end speed and makeup of productive Z-receiver in Lincoln Riley’s offense. The 4-star chose Oklahoma over the likes of Texas, Texas A&M, Notre Dame, Georgia, Florida and Auburn.
Earlier this season, Crawford made the move from offense to defense to help build depth for Alex Grinch in the secondary. He has played in two career games, making his lone appearance this season in the South Dakota game.
This is the fourth Oklahoma defender to enter the transfer portal this season. Crawford followed defensive backs Starrland Baldwin, Miguel Edwards and linebacker Jonathan Perkins. All four of those players were in their first or second years at Oklahoma.
Based off the optics, defensive coordinator Alex Grinch is wasting no time finding room to bring in his own guys that fit and can play his style of defense.
A statistical deep-dive into Oklahoma’s opponent, the twelfth ranked Baylor Bears.
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Win in Waco.
This is one of the final boxes the Sooners will need to check if they have any chance of making the College Football Playoff.
No. 9 Oklahoma (8-1) and No. 12 Baylor (9-0) are set to play one of the top-ranked matchups in their series history this week, and the game will certainly have playoff implications for the victor.
Here is a statistical deep-dive into Baylor and Oklahoma’s best stats to attack on Saturday.
Hot Lamb
It’s no secret the Sooners will need Lamb to be good the rest of the year to have a shot at winning out, but this week he’ll need to be great. The Bears currently have the second-ranked defense in the Big 12 behind Iowa State, as they allowed just 9 points in regulation last week. But they’ve have a big-play problem all season long, and that’s where Lamb comes in. The Sooners No. 1 receiver has made it a habit to rip off long, explosive plays this season, and they’ll need exactly that this Saturday in Waco. He currently averages 22.3 yards per catch.
Good luck, Charlie
Baylor quarterback Charlie Brewer hasn’t exactly been on his A-game lately, but neither has Alex Grinch’s defense. Brewer on his worst day is still one of the top quarterbacks in the Big 12, as he’s already thrown for 2,338 yard this season, with 16 touchdowns and 4 interceptions. The Oklahoma defense will have to find ways to limit Brewer, or they’ll be in another shootout, and they might not leave with the win this time.
Run Lincoln, run
Despite Kennedy Brooks having over 100 yards rushing last week, it still felt sporadic, and the Sooners couldn’t establish a thing offensively in the second half. Baylor’s defense is going to make stops, they have the talent and speed to do it. The Sooners will need to wear them out with consistent run game, and control the time of possession with the ground game. BU has given up 127.1 rushing yards per game so far this season.
This week, No. 9 Oklahoma takes on undefeated No. 10 Baylor in one of the top-ranked matchups in the series history.
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It’s going to be wild in Waco.
This week, No. 8 Oklahoma (8-1, 5-1 Big 12) takes on undefeated and No. 10 ranked Baylor (9-0, 6-0) in one of the top-ranked matchups in the series history. For both teams, the game could has major College Football Playoff implications. It’s not going to be the first time an Oklahoma-Baylor matchup will send ripples through college football.
Oklahoma holds a dominant 25-3 record over the Bears, with their largest win coming in 2000, when the Sooners won 56-7.
Before Baylor’s first series win in 2011, the Sooners had won 20-straight matchups dating as far back as 1901. In 2011, Heisman winner Robert Griffin III led the Bears to a narrow 45-38 victory over Oklahoma.
In 2013 and 2014, two of the best years in Baylor’s history, the Bears blew out Oklahoma, once in Waco and the other in Norman. In 2013, the Bears won 41-12, and in 2013 48-14, their largest win in the series. They finished ranked No. 13 and No. 7 in the end of the season polls.
The Sooners have since won four straight games, and will be looking to get their fifth in Waco on Saturday.
As the time started to wane in Oklahoma’s game against Iowa State, the crowd was thin—something OU can sense, according to Lincoln Riley.
Oklahoma head coach Lincoln Riley didn’t call out Oklahoma fans … until he did.
The Sooners’ head football coach is as calculated in terms of relaying a message as it gets. When asked about the crowd thinning out after halftime of Saturday’s game, Riley didn’t initially touch it.
After halftime, Oklahoma was in control or up by three touchdowns for most of the second-half.
“It’s our job as coaches and players that we gotta play to our level no matter what,” he said at his press conference Monday. “That is certainly our job, and I would never put that on our fans or anybody else’s fans or any atmosphere or any stadium.”
Then the crowd thinned out, and it’s clear he noticed it.
“Now, the flipside of that, like I’ve said up here many times, we have one of the great stadiums in America, we have one of the great fan bases in America, and when it’s rocking in there, does our team feel that? Hell yeah, they do,” Riley said. “And when it’s not, do they feel that? Hell yeah, they do. Yup.”
With a win this week against Baylor, the Sooners may be in play for another night game in its final home game against TCU on Nov. 23 as the Big 12 conference
After Iowa State about upended No. 8 Oklahoma, the Sooners opened up as its smallest betting favorite of the year against Baylor.
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Iowa State about handed No. 8 Oklahoma (8-1, 5-1 Big 12) a surprising, unexpected comeback win as the Sooners pulled out a 42-41 win over the Cyclones on Saturday
Now, Oklahoma heads to Waco, Texas, to take on No. 10 Baylor (9-0, 6-0) in a primtime matchup that has brought the presence of College GameDay to the Bears’ campus.
The Sooners have been huge favorites for most of the season, but oddsmakers think this will be their closest game of the season as Oklahoma opened up as an 8.5-point favorite over Baylor according to BetMGM.
Oklahoma was last this low of a favorite in the Red River Rivalry as 11-point favorites over Texas. The Sooners are 4-5 against the spread this year, including a 1-3 record away from Norman, Oklahoma.
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Oklahoma will kickoff against Baylor at 6:30 p.m. CT on ABC.
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