Oklahoma football: OU has weapons to beat Alabama, says a CBS Sports writer
By Chip Rouse
Last weekend’s statement win over TCU made Oklahoma football bowl eligible for the 20th consecutive season.
Where and whom the Sooners will be playing this postseason is still very much a work in progress, but one thing is certain: With all the offensive weapons Oklahoma possesses on offense, there aren’t many teams that will relish the opportunity to face them in a holiday bowl game.
One national sports writer has gone on record suggesting that Oklahoma may pose the biggest threat to defending national Champion Alabama’s path to a nation-best 13th national title in the modern era.
CBS Sports writer Barton Simmons says, Oklahoma holds the hopes and dreams of the Big 12 on its shoulders.”
Simmons acknowledges that there are some other very good teams in the Big 12, but the conference’s hopes of getting into the College Football Playoff rest with the Sooners.
"“Everybody is talking about Alabama, and for good reason,” Simmons said earlier this week.“Alabama is averaging 8.3 yards per play, offensively, crazy,” he said. “Oklahoma is averaging 8.62 yards per play, crazier. They (OU) are that good offensively.“I would argue that while we’re talking about Alabama as this unbeatable team, that perhaps the only team that actually could beat them is Oklahoma because they could just get in enough of a basketball game, enough of a ping-pong match back and forth to where they outscore them.”"
One team, Texas, has beaten OU this season, but there is a real possibility that the Sooners will get a chance to avenge that loss in a Red River rematch in the Big 12 Championship game on Dec. 1 in Arlington, Texas.
Even with one loss, the ESPN Football Power Index and a number of other national sources believe the Sooners still are the best pick to win the Big 12. If Oklahoma is able to win out, which FPI gives the Sooners a 28 percent chance of achieving, the Crimson and Cream not only will walk off with a fourth consecutive Big 12 championship and its 12th overall (in 23 seasons), but also should find itself smack dab in the middle of the College Football Playoff discussion.
Next. What the Spencer Rattler suspension ruling means for the Sooners. dark
And as long as we’re talking about the College Playoff, the latest ESPN College Playoff Predictor rates OU’s chances of making it to the Orange Bowl in Miami or the Cotton Bowl in Arlington, Texas, for one of the national semifinal games at 30 percent.