After starting out the season with an opening win over Missouri State, the promising season hit a road bump with back-to-back losses to Kansas State and Iowa State. Following the brief benching of starting quarterback Spencer Rattler, the Sooners were able to right the ship, finishing the year on an eight-game win streak. This included some retribution from their last loss of the year against the Cyclones in Ames.
Down the stretch of the season, Oklahoma was one of the hottest teams in the country not named Alabama. ESPN produced their final power rankings of the season in which they have OU just outside the top five teams in the country.
The Sooners won their sixth straight Big 12 championship to complete a stirring turnaround after starting the season 1-2, including a 38-35 loss to Kansas State that saw OU blow a three-touchdown lead in the second half. That loss likely kept the Sooners from making their fifth College Football Playoff appearance in the past six years, but they finished the season on an eight-game winning streak, including a 55-20 rout of Florida in the Goodyear Cotton Bowl Classic. – ESPN’s Chris Low
The Sooners will be looking to make it a lucky seven in a row when they take the field in September. The opener at this point is scheduled to be in New Orleans when Oklahoma takes on the Tulane Green Wave on Sept. 4.
The other Big 12 teams in the final rankings:
- Iowa State- No. 9
- Texas– No. 18
- Oklahoma State- No. 19
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