The Oklahoma football team took another step upward in the Week 16 AP and Coaches polls.
The Sooners, idle this past weekend as a result of having their game with West Virginia cancelled, jumped two spots into the No. 10 position in the Coaches Poll, but only advanced one position, to No, 12, in the Associated Press Top 25.
Oklahoma will have the opportunity to move up further in the rankings when it squares off with No. 8 Iowa State (in both polls) on Saturday at AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas, for the Big 12 championship. Should the Sooners prevail in the rematch of an earlier season game at Iowa State won by the Cyclones, 37-30, it would be the sixth straight conference crown for Oklahoma and its 14th in the 25-year Big 12 era.
No. 1 Alabama, followed by Notre Dame, Clemson, Ohio State and Texas A&M round out the top five in both polls. The only difference, as has been the case for several weeks, is the flip-flop in the third and fourth spots. The Associated Press has Ohio State in third and Clemson at No. 4, and it is just the reverse in the Coaches Poll.
Texas is the only other Big 12 team ranked in the AP poll, at No. 21 this week. The Longhorns are No. 24 in the Coaches Poll, while Oklahoma State climbed back into the top-25 rankings, according to the voters in the Coaches Poll. The Cowboys are in the No. 22 spot.
The biggest movement this week was by Miami. The Hurricanes’ 62-26 blowout loss to North Carolina cost them a drop pf 10 spots in the AP poll and 11 positions in the Coaches Poll (to No. 19 in both polls).
Florida, formerly at No. 6 in both polls, fell five spots, to No. 11.
On the upward track, North Carolina jumped five spots, to No. 15, in the Coaches Poll and four positions, to No. 16, in the AP Top 25.