The Oklahoma Sooners improved to 6-5 overall and 2-5 in [autotag]SEC[/autotag] play with last week’s win over the Alabama Crimson Tide. Now, OU is looking for more, hoping to go on the road and defeat the LSU Tigers in Week 14.
It’s still been a disappointing season in Norman, but the upset win over the Tide certainly helps for now. But in at least one metric, Oklahoma may not be as bad as their record indicates. ESPN college football writer Bill Connelly released his weekly SP+ rankings (ESPN+) for all 134 teams at the FBS level.
Connelly defines “SP+ as a tempo-and opponent-adjusted measure of college football efficiency, intended to be predictive and forward-facing. It is not a résumé ranking, and is simply a measure of the most sustainable and predictable aspects of football.”
Despite the poor record for the Sooners, SP+ has them ranked all the way up at No. 26, sandwiched in between Boise State and Tulane.
One saving grace of OU’s poor season, and the most likely reason for the top-30 ranking, is that they’ve played a very difficult schedule; one of the hardest in the country. Tulane is one of the best teams in the Group of Five, and Oklahoma beat them by 17 points. South Carolina is far better than anyone expected, Alabama was a top ten team when Oklahoma defeated them and teams like Tennessee, Texas, Ole Miss and Missouri have all had their moments in 2024.
Unfortunately, the schedule doesn’t get much easier, as Oklahoma will face LSU on the road this week to close out the regular season. The Tigers were 6-1 a month ago, but a three-game skid took them out of the playoff conversation. They earned a bounceback win over Vanderbilt last Saturday and hope to close the season strong against OU at home.
[autotag]Brent Venables[/autotag]’ team will have to play their best football in Baton Rouge in order to get to 7-5, which would ensure a winning season in 2024 for the Sooners.
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