Oklahoma football: Could OU and USC meet in the Playoffs?

It is that time in the middle of the week, where it is too late for yet another piece about how Oklahoma football gave Nebraska an absolute molly whopping (although it is still fun to talk about) and possibly a little too early for a piece looking ahead to Kansas State, (don’t worry, that piece will come in a day or two)

So, since the past is past and the future has yet to be written, let’s have a little fun with a good old hypothetical piece.

Riddle me this college football fans: What would be one of the most ironic events that could transpire this season for the Oklahoma Sooners?

I’m sure there are half a dozen answers to that question, but the one I am thinking of, in particular, is if OU faced off against USC in the Semifinals, maybe even for a national championship.

Now, we have already agreed that this is strictly hypothetical, so just humor me for a few paragraphs and take this ride with me.

First of all, is it totally unrealistic that OU will reclaim its rightful place atop the throne of the Big 12 conference?

Certainly, OU has some tough tests coming up in the coming weeks, teams like OSU probably, and Texas especially will be looking to spoil the Sooner’s season and rob them of that throne for the second year in a row, but OU emerging as a 1 loss team, or even a 0 loss team, defeating probably Texas or OSU in the big 12 championship game is not out of this world at all, in fact, I find it to be fairly likely.

If there was a 0- or 1-loss Oklahoma team, who also won their conference, the Sooners would almost have to be put into the final four teams to compete on New Year’s weekend.

Secondly, USC is an even easier case to make, for so far the Pac 12 appears to be hot garbage this season

Oregon could possibly give USC issues, and maybe Utah will put up a fight, but I think it is more than likely that USC rolls its way through the entire Pac 12 and emerges at the end of the season with 0 losses (or perhaps 1 loss to one of the aforementioned teams, if they are having an off day)

Now let’s look at the other conferences, to see who might be competing for their place in the final four alongside OU and USC.

I personally do not see a team in the final four, coming out of the ACC. Unless Clemson makes a turnaround, they seem to be the same lackluster Clemson team from last year, and I don’t think there is any other team that can rise above the others in the ACC to make the final four teams.

Unfortunately, it seems like we get 2 SEC teams almost every year, and with as dominant as Georgia has looked so far, and if we can safely assume that issues get figured out over there in Saben land, it is very possible we see another final four that features 2 SEC teams, probably Alabama and Georgia.

However, if one of these schools suffers a loss, or if the CFP committee is not fond of how Alabama barely escaped from Texas by the skin of its teeth, Bama might be overlooked for maybe an undefeated Ohio State team.

Bearing all those scenarios in mind, for the sake of this exercise in hypotheticals, I am going to say the final four is OU, USC, and Georgia and that last spot is interchangeable between Alabama and Ohio State.

If this scenario were to play out, you would either have OU and USC facing off with a chance to go to the college football championship game, or you would have OU and USC facing off in the college football championship game (which I openly admit is far less likely)

After what I saw from the Texas-Alabama game, I do believe that OU would stand a good chance of defeating Alabama or Ohio State for that matter, but someone has to play Georgia, and I’m not sure I am confident in the abilities of either OU or USC to knock out that giant, but it is always possible.

So, while it may not come to fruition, it is not a stretch to imagine, that in some form, Bret Venables, Dillan Gabriel, and the Sooners, would have to face off against Oklahoma’s former head coach Lincoln Riley, and previous quarterback in Caleb Williams (not to mention former OU wide receiver, Mario Williams)

A match-up for the ages would be, the old Regime going toe to toe with the new Oklahoma Regime, and while this might be hypothetical, I think what is not hypothetical, is that there is not a college football fan alive who wouldn’t tune into that match up on New Year’s eve.

Boomer Sooner.