Stormin in Norman
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Oklahoma football gets lots of love from ESPN post-bowl SP+ Top-25 rankings

By Chip Rouse

Dec 29, 2022; Orlando, Florida, USA; Oklahoma Sooners running back Jovantae Barnes (2) celebrates scoring a touchdown against the Oklahoma Sooners during the second half in the 2022 Cheez-It Bowl at Camping World Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Rich Storry-USA TODAY Sports
Dec 29, 2022; Orlando, Florida, USA; Oklahoma Sooners running back Jovantae Barnes (2) celebrates scoring a touchdown against the Oklahoma Sooners during the second half in the 2022 Cheez-It Bowl at Camping World Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Rich Storry-USA TODAY Sports /
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The 2022 Oklahoma football team had a cup of coffee in the AP Top-25 rankings this season, going from No. 6 to No. 18 to out of the rankings after five games.

The Sooners were nowhere near the top 25, perhaps not even the top 50, after a pair of outright shellackings by TCU (59-34) and Texas (49-0), but they were playing much better down the stretch of the 2022 season despite losing four of their last five games to finish 6-7 and 3-6 in the Big 12.

All four of the losses in OU’s final five games were by three points. The Sooners were in a position to win all four but just weren’t able to make enough plays to get the job done.

College Football News and The Athletic both publish rolling weekly 1-131 rankings throughout the season. Oklahoma finished the season 41st in the CFN final rankings (after starting the season No. 10). The Athletic ranked the Sooners at No. 47 (down from a preseason ranking of No. 13).

The picture isn’t completely bleak for 2022, however, as far as Oklahoma football is concerned. The analytics group at ESPN has a statistical formula it calls SP+, which it describes as “a tempo- and opponent-adjusted measure of college football efficiency. It is intended to be forward facing. It is not a resume ranking that gives credit for big wins or particularly brave scheduling…simply a measure of the most sustainable and predictable aspects of football.”

After going through all of that, the ESPN SP+ analytics concluded that the Oklahoma Sooners are the 18th best team in college football this season. Based on the same methodology, Georgia, Alabama, Ohio State and Michigan are Nos. 1 through 4 for the 2022 college football season. TCU came in No. 6 along with three other Big 12 teams — No. 8 Texas and No. 9 Kansas State — aside from OU that finished in the SP+ Top 25.

Here is how the rest of the Big 12 fared in this analysis:

No. 29 Oklahoma State

No. 30 Texas Tech

No. 33 Baylor

No. 51 Iowa State

No. 57 Kansas

No. 64 West Virginia

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