Oklahoma football: Sooners ranked No. 9 in first AP Top 25 of 2022 season
By Chip Rouse
Oklahoma football will open the 2022 season as the No. 9 team in both the Associated Press and Coaches Poll preseason rankings.
You know the new season is only days away when the Associated Press reveals its annual preseason rankings. and the 60-plus media representative who make up the AP voting panel on Monday rated the Sooners as the ninth best team in the country entering the 2022 season. The No. 9 ranking mirrors OU’s preseason ranking in the Coaches Poll, which was revealed a week ago.
As expected, Alabama is the top-ranked team in the Preseason AP Top 25. The Crimson Tide garnered 54 of the 62 first-place votes. No. 2 Ohio State received six first-place votes and No. 3 Georgia received the remaining three. Clemson and Notre Dame rounded out the top five.
This is the seventh time in 15 seasons under head coach Nick Saban that Alabama has been ranked No. 1 in the first Associated Press poll of the season. That ranks second all-time only to Oklahoma with 10 No. 1 preseason appearances in the AP poll since the preseason rankings first appeared in 1950.
Despite all the offseason changes and the uncertainty surrounding the Sooner football program following the coaching change from Lincoln Riley to Brent Venables, the AP voters still viewed Oklahoma as the team to beat in the Big 12 until proven otherwise.
This is the 23rd consecutive appearance by Oklahoma in the preseason AP rankings. Also, in its 64 AP preseason appearances as one of the top-25 teams, the Sooners have been ranked ninth or higher 48 times.
Both Baylor and Oklahoma State were ranked in the second ten of the preseason AP poll. The reigning Big 12 champion Bears are ranked No. 10 and Oklahoma State No. 12. One noticeable snub between the two major polls was Texas. The Longhorns, who were ranked 18th in the Coaches Poll and even received a first-place vote, are conspicuously absent in the Preseason AP Top 25.
The SEC led all major conferences with six top-25 teams. The Big 12 placed three teams in the top 25, but if you include the teams expected to join the conference as early as next season (No. 23 Cincinnati, No. 24 Houston and No. 25 BYU), that boosts the Big 12 total to six ranked teams.
Here is a breakdown of how the Sooners are ranked to begin the 2022 college football season in other 2022 preseason rankings:
Athlon Sports
1. Alabama, 2. Ohio State, 3. Georgia, 4. Clemson, 11. Baylor, 13. Oklahoma, 17. Oklahoma State
CBS Sports
1. Georgia, 2, Alabama, 3, Michigan, 4. Cincinnati, 5. Baylor, 7. Oklahoma State, 10. Oklahoma
Lindy’s Sports
1. Alabama, 2. Ohio State, 3. Georgia, 4. Clemson, 9. Oklahoma State, 10. Oklahoma, 12. Baylor, 25. Texas
Phil Steele Preseason Top 25
1. Alabama, 2. Ohio State, 3. Georgia, 4. Clemson, 5. Michigan, 8. Oklahoma, 14. Baylor, 15. Oklahoma State, 18. Texas
Sporting News
1. Alabama, 2. Ohio State, 3. Georgia, 4. Clemson, 10. Baylor, 11. Oklahoma, 12. Oklahoma State, 25. Texas
247Sports
1. Alabama, 2. Ohio State, 3. Georgia, 4. Texas A&M, 10. Oklahoma, 16 tie. Texas, 25. Oklahoma State
2022 College Football America Yearbook
1. Alabama, 2. Georgia, 3. Ohio State, 4. Clemson, 5. Notre Dame, 6. Oklahoma, 10. Oklahoma State
Coaches Poll
1. Alabama, 2. Ohio State, 3. Georgia, 4. Clemson, 9. Oklahoma, 10. Baylor, 11. Oklahoma State