Oklahoma football: Sooners drop in rankings after close call at Kansas
By Chip Rouse
It’s becoming a standard Sunday refrain. Oklahoma football narrowly escapes with a win but remains one of the top-five teams nationally.
The Sooners were fortunate to escape lowly Kansas on Saturday in Week 8 of the 2021 college football season and paid the price in the national rankings as a direct result. Oklahoma is ranked No. 4 this week in both the Associated Press poll and the Coaches Poll. A week ago, the Sooners ranked No. 3 and No. 2, respectively, in those two major polls.
Alabama, a 52-24 winner over Tennessee, jumped over Oklahoma in both polls, moving into the No. 3 spot despite having one loss.
The top six teams are the same this week in both the AP and Coaches Poll: No. 1 Georgia, followed by Cincinnati, Bama, OU, Ohio State and Michigan. You can see the top 25 in both polls by clicking here.
The Sooners (8-0) are one of nine teams that remain undefeated entering Week 9 of the college season. Things are going to get much tougher from here on out, though, with games against Texas Tech, Baylor, Iowa State, which returned to the top-25 rankings after beating previously unbeaten Oklahoma State on Saturday, and the regular-season finale at Oklahoma State remaining on the schedule.
Besides the Sooners, three other Big 12 teams are ranked this week. Oklahoma State (6-1), with a loss to Iowa State, dropped from No. 8 in the AP poll to 15 in both polls. Baylor (6-1) is No. 16 this week in the AP poll and No. 18 in the Coaches poll, and Iowa State (5-2) moved back into the top 25 at No. 22 in the AP poll and No. 23 in the Coaches Poll.
Penn State was the biggest downward mover in the polls this week after losing to unranked Illinois in a nine-overtime game. The Nittany Lions dropped 13 spots in the AP poll and nine in the Coaches Poll. Pittsburgh made the highest climb, moving up six spots, to No. 16, in the AP poll, and ahead four spots, to 19, in the Coaches Poll after defeating Clemson.