Oklahoma football: A look ahead at unfinished Sooner business
By John Makuch
Championship November is finally here for the Oklahoma football Sooners, and they have all the fuel to have a great final month of the regular season.
After the College Football Playoff selection committee ranked them eighth in last week’s first installment of the 2021 rankings, the message was clear: Oklahoma has a lot to prove if they want to make it into college football’s version of the Final Four for the 2021 season.
Losses by Wake Forest and Michigan State help out the Sooners’ playoff chances, but Oklahoma can only control one thing: winning. And even that is not entirely in OU’s control, as the three opponents that remain on the Sooners’ regular-season schedule also have a say.
Unlike previous seasons, when an OU loss came much earlier in the season, Oklahoma cannot really afford a loss at this late stage and realistically make the playoff. And that is especially true if that loss comes in the conference championship game.
The CFP field is too stacked for a one-loss Sooner team to make it into the top four unless, perhaps, OU is able to avenge that loss by capturing a seventh straight Big 12 crown.
The Sooners final three games are not easy, either, with two ranked matchups on the road for the Sooners. NCAA stats regard Oklahoma’s final three games as the third hardest finishing schedule in college football.
The first stop in the Sooners’ November gauntlet, at Baylor. will bring back a roller-coaster mix of memories for Oklahoma fans Perhaps a 31-10 halftime OU deficit will ring a bell.