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Oklahoma football: Sooners on move upward again in AP, Coaches Polls

By Chip Rouse

GLENDALE, AZ - JANUARY 11: The College Football Playoff National Championship Trophy is seen on the field before the 2016 College Football Playoff National Championship Game between the Clemson Tigers and the Alabama Crimson Tide at University of Phoenix Stadium on January 11, 2016 in Glendale, Arizona. (Photo by Ronald Martinez/Getty Images)
GLENDALE, AZ - JANUARY 11: The College Football Playoff National Championship Trophy is seen on the field before the 2016 College Football Playoff National Championship Game between the Clemson Tigers and the Alabama Crimson Tide at University of Phoenix Stadium on January 11, 2016 in Glendale, Arizona. (Photo by Ronald Martinez/Getty Images) /
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A week ago, the Oklahoma football season took a staggering hit with a surprising loss to Kansas State. The  previously fifth-ranked Sooners were fortunate to drop just five spots in the national polls.

Despite being off this weekend, Oklahoma was able to gain some of that lost ground back, moving up one position, to No. 9, in the Associated Press Poll for Week 11. The Sooners also picked up a spot in the Coaches Poll, to No. 8, the result of then No. 6 Florida losing to No. 8 Georgia on Saturday.

The odds are stacked against them, but the 7-1 Sooners still have a pulse and an outside shot at the College Football Playoff, but the margin of error is virtually zero.

While the weekly national rankings are great for conversation and obviously followed with a lot of interest, beginning this coming week they will take a backseat to the only poll that really matters in the world of big-time college football. On Tuesday night, the first installment in the College Football Playoff rankings will be revealed.

The final College Football Playoff rankings will determine which four teams will compete for the 2019 national championship, as well as the eight other teams that will play in the four other New Year’s Six bowl games (this season, the Cotton Bowl Classic, Rose Bowl, Orange Bowl and Sugar Bowl). The CFP national semifinal games will be played in the Fiesta Bowl (in Glendale, Arizona)  and the Peach Bowl (in Atlanta).

Baylor, which hung on to pull out a three-point win over West Virginia earlier last week, is No. 11 in the new AP Top 25 and No. 10 in the Coaches Poll. That sets up a potential top-10 battle when the Big 12-leading Bears host the Sooners on Nov. 16 in Waco.

Kansas State is the only other ranked Big 12 team: No. 20 in the AP and 22nd in the Coaches Poll.

The top five teams remain unchanged from last week and are the same in both polls, although in a slightly different order. LSU and Alabama share the top ranking, with LSU No. 1 in the AP Poll, and the Crimson Tide at No. 1 in the Coaches Poll. That sets up a one-versus-two showdown between LSU and Alabama in Tuscaloosa on Saturday.

Penn State, the current No. 5 team in both polls, will have a big road challenge on Saturday at No. 13 and undefeated Minnesota. The Nittany Lions also must go to Ohio State on Nov. 23.

Oklahoma returns to action on Saturday. The Sooners will take on Iowa State at 7 p.m. at Gaylord Family — Oklahoma Memorial Stadium, where OU has lost just 10 times in the last 20 years.

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