The number of undefeated teams at the top level of college football has dwindled to four, including the Oklahoma football Sooners, who protected their perfect record by not playing this weekend.
The Sooners (9-0, 6-0) held strong at the No. 4 position in both the Associated Press and Coaches polls as they begin preparation to face No. 18 Baylor next weekend.
The first weekend of Championship November, as the experts have come to call the homestretch of the college season, brought with some it some chaos that is a natural byproduct of this time of year in the national rankings.
Two previously undefeated teams ranked in the top 10 suffered their first loss of the season on Saturday. Michigan State lost to unranked Purdue and dropped to No. 8 in the AP poll and one spot lower, to No. 9, in the Coaches poll.
And previously unbeaten Wake Forest, ranked No. 9, one spot lower than Oklahoma in the first College Football rankings of the season, fell in a shootout at North Carolina and dropped to No. 13 in the AP and Coaches rankings for Week 11.
Oklahoma State survived a road trip to West Virginia with an impressive 24-3 win and moved into the top 10 this week in the two major polls. The Sooners and Cowboys meet in the regular-season finale for both teams, which could be a preview of the Big 12 Championship the following weekend.
Another Big 12 team, Baylor, was one of the top-25 teams that fell by the wayside over the weekend. The now 7-2 Bears lost a heartbreaker to TCU, 30-28, a team that earlier in the week fired its longtime head coach Gary Patterson. Baylor dropped to No. 18 in both polls.
Oklahoma has three games remaining in the 2021 regular season. The Sooners travel to No. 18 Baylor next Saturday. They return home to host Iowa State on Nov. 20 and take on Oklahoma State there for Bedlam on Nov. 27.