Oklahoma football: ESPN predicts Texas in way of an OU perfect regular season
By Chip Rouse
The 2022 Oklahoma football Sooners are off to a 2-0 start and headed to Nebraska this weekend for a renewal of one of college football’s historic rivalry series.
The Sooners are ranked 15th this week in the weekly ESPN College Football Power rankings despite two opening wins by an average of 31.5 points a game. The Associated Press and Coaches Poll have a different view of Sooner football under new head coach Brent Venables. OU is ranked No. 6 in both major weekly polls.
Texas was highly impressive in its game with No, 1 Alabama on Saturday, leading for a good part of the game before falling 20-19 on a late game drive and winning field goal by the nation’s top-ranked team. The Longhorns, playing for much of the game with a backup quarterback after a first-half injury to Texas stater Quinn Evers, caught the attention of the college football world. leaving experts with the idea that this may be the year that Texas is finally back in the hunt.
The ESPN college football staff was impressed enough with what it saw to advance the Longhorns from No. 23 in Week 1 to No. 6 after Week 2.
ESPN’s Matchup Predictor took an updated look at the rest of the Oklahoma football schedule this season and sees Texas as the main stumbling block for the new-look Sooners this season, based on what has taken place thus far.
ESPN has the Sooners remaining undefeated at 5-0 heading into the annual Red River Showdown with Texas on Oct. 8, Likewise, the Longhorns should come into that game with a 4-1 record, the one loss being by a single point to Alabama.
It’s way too early to establish a line on this year’s Red River game, but the early feeling is that Texas will get the better of the Sooners, who have won six of the last seven games against the Longhorns and are 16-7 in the series since 2000.
ESPN has OU’s win percentage in this season’s Red River Showdown at 35.2 percent, down from 45 percent. The Sooners’ projected win percentage in every other game this season is close to 60 percent or higher. If that holds true, Oklahoma would be guaranteed of one of the two spots in the Big 12 Championship game on Dec. 3, with a potential spot on the line for the College Football Playoff.
A lot of games remain to be played, but this assessment is strikingly similar to what I projected for the Big 12 race this season. How delighted would Big 12 officials be if it came down to Oklahoma and Texas for the 2022 Big 12 Championship?
That would be the Big 12’s worst nightmare with both of those teams soon to exit the Big 12 for the SEC.