The road to bowl eligibility for the Oklahoma Sooners won’t be a smooth ride. Oklahoma will play FCS program Maine this week. Then they go on the road again to begin a four-week stretch against three top 25 programs in the US LBM Coaches Poll after Week 9.
Those teams aren’t all in the top 10 like they were several weeks ago, but the Sooners will face challenges over the final month of the season when they take on the Missouri Tigers, Alabama Crimson Tide, and LSU Tigers.
If the Sooners want to reach a bowl game, they’ll have to take care of business against a tough Maine team and then upset one of the three SEC teams remaining on the schedule.
That doesn’t look as daunting as it did a couple of weeks ago. Missouri lost 34-0 to Alabama on Saturday. It’s the second time they’ve been blown out by a ranked SEC team after suffering a huge loss to Texas A&M a few weeks ago. But at home, the Tigers will pose a challenge, especially if Brady Cook is available. Cook left in the first half yesterday after suffering a hand injury. After Missouri’s loss to Alabama, the Tigers fell to No. 23 in the nation.
Alabama hasn’t been the Alabama of old in 2024, but they were much better against Missouri. The Sooners will have an upset on their mind when they welcome the Crimson Tide to town after their second bye week. Alabama moved up one spot to No. 14 after beating Missouri.
LSU has a very good offense, but the defense is still a work in progress. They were outscored 31-6 in the second half by Texas A&M, ending the Tigers six-game winning streak. LSU fell to No. 16 in the nation after the loss.
Elsewhere in the US LBM Coaches Poll, the Oregon Ducks took home 53 of the possible 54 first-place votes in the poll. The Ducks earned an emphatic 38-9 win over Illinois. [autotag]Dillon Gabriel[/autotag] threw for 291 yards and had four total touchdowns in the win. Georgia is still the No. 2 after their bye week, followed by Penn State, Ohio State, and the Miami Hurricanes to round out the top five.
Complete US LBM Coaches Poll after Week 9
| Rank | Team | Record | Points |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Oregon Ducks | 8-0 | 1,349 (53) |
| 2 | Georgia Bulldogs | 6-1 | 1,270 (1) |
| 3 | Penn State Nittany Lions | 7-0 | 1,239 |
| 4 | Ohio State Buckeyes | 6-1 | 1,160 |
| 5 | Miami Hurricanes | 7-1 | 1,136 |
| 6 | Texas Longhorns | 7-1 | 1,096 |
| 7 | Tennessee Volunteers | 6-1 | 987 |
| 8 | Clemson Tigers | 6-1 | 942 |
| 9 | Notre Dame Fighting Irish | 7-1 | 853 |
| 10 | Iowa State Cyclones | 7-0 | 846 |
| 11 | Texas A&M Aggies | 7-1 | 806 |
| 12 | BYU Cougars | 8-0 | 786 |
| 13 | Indiana Hoosiers | 8-0 | 741 |
| 14 | Alabama Crimson Tide | 6-2 | 619 |
| 15 | Kansas State Wildcats | 7-1 | 533 |
| 16 | LSU Tigers | 6-2 | 530 |
| 17 | Pittsburgh Panthers | 7-0 | 495 |
| 18 | Ole Miss Rebels | 6-2 | 475 |
| 19 | Boise State Broncos | 6-1 | 459 |
| 20 | SMU Mustangs | 7-1 | 346 |
| 21 | Army Black Knights | 7-0 | 278 |
| 22 | Washington State Cougars | 7-1 | 160 |
| 23 | Missouri Tigers | 6-2 | 114 |
| 24 | Illinois Fighting Illini | 6-2 | 89 |
| 25 | Memphis Tigers | 7-1 | 76 |
Schools Dropped Out
No. 24 Navy; No. 25 Vanderbilt;
Others Receiving Votes
Colorado 75; Tulane 27; Louisiana 14; Vanderbilt 13; Navy 10; UNLV 7; Arizona State 5; Virginia Tech 3; Duke 3; Arkansas 3; Louisville 2; James Madison 2; Michigan 1;
List Of Voters
The US LBM Board of Coaches for the 2024 season: Tim Albin, Ohio; Major Applewhite, South Alabama; Tim Beck, Coastal Carolina; Mike Bloomgren, Rice; David Braun, Northwestern; Jeff Brohm, Louisville; Fran Brown, Syracuse; Neal Brown, West Virginia; Troy Calhoun, Air Force; Jamey Chadwell, Liberty; Bob Chesney, James Madison; Chris Creighton, Eastern Michigan; Sonny Cumbie, Louisiana Tech; Spencer Danielson, Boise State; Ryan Day, Ohio State; Kalen DeBoer, Alabama; Kenny Dillingham, Arizona State; Eliah Drinkwitz, Missouri; Mike Elko, Texas A&M; Tony Elliott, Virginia; Jedd Fisch, Washington; James Franklin, Penn State; Marcus Freeman, Notre Dame; Willie Fritz, Houston; Alex Golesh, South Florida; Tyson Helton, Western Kentucky; Mike Houston, East Carolina; Butch Jones, Arkansas State; Brent Key, Georgia Tech; GJ Kinne, Texas State; Chris Klieman, Kansas State; Dan Lanning, Oregon; Rhett Lashlee, SMU; Clark Lea, Vanderbilt; Lance Leipold, Kansas; Pete Lembo, Buffalo; Sean Lewis, San Diego State; Mike Locksley, Maryland; Mike MacIntyre, Florida International; Gus Malzahn, Central Florida; Chuck Martin, Miami (Ohio); Derek Mason, Middle Tennessee; Joey McGuire, Texas Tech; Bronco Mendenhall, New Mexico; Jeff Monken, Army; Pat Narduzzi, Pittsburgh; Ken Niumatalolo, San Jose State; Barry Odom, UNLV; Gerad Parker, Troy; Brent Pry, Virginia Tech; Kirby Smart, Georgia; Mark Stoops, Kentucky; Jon Sumrall, Tulane; Lance Taylor, Western Michigan; Jeff Traylor, Texas-San Antonio.