Oklahoma football has survived but not thrived from championship controversy
By Chip Rouse
2015 College Football Playoff
In 2015, Oklahoma, led by quarterback Baker Mayfield in his first season as the Sooners’ starting quarterback, finished the regular season 11-1 and ranked fourth in the Associated Press Top 25 and third in the Coaches Poll. Moreover, OU was in the No. 3 spot in the penultimate College Football Playoff rankings.
The final CFP rankings came out a week later. Because the Big 12 did not hold a conference championship game, Big Ten champion Michigan State jumped Oklahoma into the third spot in the final CFP selection results. The Spartans defeated previously unbeaten Iowa in the Big Ten championship game. Iowa was 12-1 after losing to Michigan State, the same record as the Sooners, and had to play one more game. Ohio State also owned an 11-1 record that season and was receiving Playoff consideration because of its strength of schedule.
Oklahoma ultimately won over the CFP selection committee and retained the final spot in the College Playoff that season. That’s the good news. The bad news is that the No. 4 seed is paired against the No. 1 seed in one of the national semifinal games.
The euphoria of making it into the Playoff was quickly silenced, however, as top-seeded Clemson overcame a 17-16 halftime deficit, outscoring OU 21-0 in the second half on the way to a 37-17 victory.