Oklahoma football: Sooners fall one spot in AP poll, to No. 4
By Chip Rouse
The two Oklahoma football wins this season have come by seven or fewer points, and the close call with Nebraska on Saturday cost them a spot in the Associated Press Top 25.
The Sooners, who began the 2021 season ranked No. 2 in the AP poll, are down to No. 4 by the vote of the media representatives who participate in that poll, but remain in the No. 3 spot this week in the Coaches Poll.
Oklahoma has been tempting fate and putting themselves in a position to lose to unranked nonconference opponents in two of the last three weeks. The fact that the Sooners have won all three games has allowed they to remain in the top five, but unless they get some things worked out both offensively and defensively, danger awaits down the road in the Big 12, where the competition won’t be as forgiving.
Alabama and Georgia remain No. 1 and 2 in both polls. Oregon, a 48-7 winner over Stony Brook on Saturday, replace the Sooners at No. 3 in the AP poll. The Ducks began the season at No. 11 in the preseason AP Top 25, but jumped all the way to No. 4 after beating Ohio State on the road in Week 2.
Iowa State is No. 14 again this week in both polls and Oklahoma State, a 21-20 winner at Boise State on Saturday, stays at No. 23 in the Coaches Poll. A third Big 12 team, Kansas State, broke into the top-25 in the AP poll this week, taking over the 25th spot.
Florida, which gave No. 1 Alabama all it could handle in a two-point, 31-29, loss at home this weekend, remained No. 11 in the AP poll, although the Gators did drop to spots, to No. 11, in the Coaches Poll.