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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