College Football Playoff: Stats that decidely favor Sooners

Clemson is seeded No. 1 and Oklahoma is No. 2 in the College Football Playoff rankings, yet neither team is favored in their first-round Playoff game on New Year’s Day.

With three days remaining before all the hype ends and the play on the field settles the score for real, fans of all four Playoff teams are clamoring for everything positive they can take in that sets their team apart from the rest.

Here’s some positive reinforcement for OU fans who are getting tired of hearing how Georgia’s big, bad defense is going to have its way with college football’s best offensive unit, and how the Sooners’ underwhelming defense is going to get crushed by Georgia’s monster running backs:

• Oklahoma’s offensive dominance is more than just a one-season phenomenon. In the three seasons that Lincoln Riley and Baker Mayfield have been together at OU, the Sooners have led the nation in scoring offense (44.1), total offense (556.1), passing efficiency (188.6) and completion percentage (69.5).
• Baker Mayfield has a 34-5 record as a starting quarterback at Oklahoma.
• Oklahoma is 66-16 all-time as the nation’s No. 2-ranked team in the Associated Press poll and has 22 of the last 24 games when ranked that high.
• The Sooners are 28-17-1 all-time in AP top-five matchups and 11-5 in bowl games when going up against another top-five team.
• In Oklahoma’s only other appearance in the Rose Bowl, the Sooners, ranked No. 8 at the time, defeated No. 7 Washington State 34-14. The Sooners finished the 2002 season ranked 5th in the final AP poll.
• OU has played four games against SEC teams over the past five seasons and has won all four by at least seven points and a combined average of 15.3 points. (No. 3 Alabama, 45-31, in the 2014 Sugar Bowl; Tennessee, 38-10, in Norman in 2014; No. 23 Tennessee, 31-24, in Knoxville in 2015, and No. 17 Auburn, 35-19, in the Sugar Bowl a year ago.)
• In its last 10 games against an opponent from the Southeastern Conference the Sooners are 7-3.
• A victory over Georgia would give Oklahoma its fifth appearance in a national championship game since 2000. Alabama is the only school that has played in more national championship games than OU’s four since the 2000 season.
• Oklahoma has won eight consecutive games since losing to Iowa State, 38-31, in early October. That is the longest active winning streak among Power Five teams.
• Oklahoma’s decisive 31-16 road victory over then-No. 2 Ohio State this season was arguably one of the most impressive wins of the season in a matchup of top-10 teams.
• The Sooners are the highest scoring team in college football history with 35,071 points in 1,259 games.
• No team in college football has more 10-win season’s than Oklahoma’s 38. The Sooners also own the most 11-win seasons (24).