Hold that thought, Oklahoma football fans. I know what you’re all thinking.
One of the most surprising reveals in the initial CFP rankings for 2021 was the positioning of the Oklahoma in the No. 8 slot. And that wasn’t the only surprising revelation. Click here to see the complete Week 10 CFP rankings.
It’s easy to understand, though, how the College Football Playoff selection committee knocked the Sooners down in the initial rankings. Oklahoma really hasn’t played anyone of consequence, and until of late, the Sooners haven’t been very impressive against the teams they have played.
Yes, Oklahoma is 9-0, one of only six remaining undefeated teams at the FBS level, and the only nine-win team, but the Sooners have played down to their opponents most of the season and well below their season expectations.
The Sooners most impressive win of the season was this past weekend, a 31-point victory over Texas Tech in which OU finally managed to put a complete game together. But that followed a near-disastrous performance the week before against a Kansas team that ranks among the worst in all of college football.
Everything is still out in front of OU, however. And that’s the good takeaway from the first of what will be six weekly CFP rankings before the final four of the 2021 college season will be nailed down.
The Sooners will have every opportunity to move into a top-four spot. In November, Oklahoma plays No. 12 Baylor, Iowa State, which at the beginning of the season was considered the strongest challenger to the Sooners’ Big 12 reign, and ends the regular season with Bedlam at No. 11 Oklahoma State.
That schedule alone is enough to undo all the criticism that has been directed OU’s way to date. Successfully navigate that killer’s row string of games and then top it off with another Big 12 championship against one of those same teams, and everything will take care of itself as far as the Sooners’ season is concerned.
CFP committee chairman Gary Barta was asked by reporters about the No. 8 ranking for Oklahoma. He said one of the things discussed about the Sooners was how ‘they are still trying to find their identity, but certainly when they added Caleb Williams at quarterback, the committee agreed that the offense certainly changed in a positive way.”
Head coach Lincoln Riley dismissed the relevancy of the first week of the 2021 CFP rankings. It is meaningless, he said, because the biggest games of the season for most of the top teams are still out there to be played.
Lots will change between now and the first weekend in December.
Historically, the Sooners are at their strongest during the championship month of November. Let’s hope they are at their best again this season. Anything less will just feed the season-long perceptions held by most college football experts regarding the 2021 edition of Oklahoma football.