Oklahoma football: ESPN’s 3-year Future Power Rankings places Sooners in top 15
By Chip Rouse
Already this college football offseason, ESPN has published Future Power Rankings. looking ahead the next three seasons, for quarterbacks, offensive units and defensive units. The Oklahoma football program ranked in the top 10 at quarterback and for overall offensive performance.
With the start of the new season under 75 days away, staff writer Adam Rittenberg and the ESPN college football staff have issued their three-year future outlook for the teams, the Future Power Rankings Top 25.
If you’re not a fan of what has become the usual suspects — Georgia, Alabama, Ohio State, Michigan, LSU or Clemson — you’re probably not going to give a hoot about this future top-25 projection. If you’re a fan of the SEC, however, that’s a much different story. More on that later.
If you’ve read this far, my guess is that you are, however, curious to know what the ESPN staff has to say about Oklahoma over the next three seasons (2023, ’24 and ’25).
Let’s begin by noting that in this same Future Power Ranking a year ago, ahead of Brent Venables’ first season as head coach of the Sooners and projecting out three seasons beginning in 2022, Oklahoma was No. 7. The Sooners aren’t ranked that high this time around, but they still crack the top 15, coming in at No. 12 in the top-25 Future Power Ranking for teams.
The five-spot drop from 2022 to 2023 is largely because of the uncertainty surrounding the defense. Oklahoma did not receive a 2023 Future defense ranking, although the Future QB ranking was No. 3 and the Future offense came in at No. 7.
“The offense has been OU’s signature unit and projects well through 2025, especially with the addition of (five-star) quarterback Jackson Arnold,” writes Rittenberg.
The expectation is that the defense will get better, especially with Venables’ resume as “one of the sport’s best defensive strategists and talent evaluators.” The lingering question is how much and how soon? Rittenberg points out “the recruiting shift under Venables is the biggest positive,” with eight ESPN 300 defenders in OU’s 2023 recruiting class. The Sooners also added several defensive players from the transfer portal who are expected to have an immediate impact.
The bottom line: A No. 12 Future ranking is probably what it should be until the Sooners are able to prove otherwise. It’s also worth noting that the two outlying years in the ESPN Future Power Ranking will come when Oklahoma is a member of the SEC. The Sooners, by the way, are the highest ranked member of the Big 12 teams that made the top 25. Texas, which joins OU in moving to the SEC after this season, is No. 15.
Speaking of the SEC, eight teams from that conference (including OU and Texas) are ranked in the FPR Top 25 and four in the top 10.
Here is the complete ESPN Future Power Ranking Top 25:
1. Georgia (QB ranking: 4; offense ranking: 3; defense ranking: 1)
2. Alabama (QB ranking: 5; offense ranking: 4; Future defense ranking 4)
3. Ohio State (QB 2; offense 2; defense 21)
4. Michigan (QB 6; offense 5; defense 3)
5. LSU (QB 12; offense 11; defense 7)
6. USC (QB 1; offense 1; defense not ranked)
7. Clemson (QB 20; offense NR; defense 2)
8. Penn State (QB 15; offense 12; defense 6)
9. Tennessee (QB 8; offense 6; defense NR)
10. Florida State (QB 9; offense 10; defense NR)
11. Oregon Ducks (QB 10; offense 13; defense NR)
12. Oklahoma (QB 3; offense 7; defense NR)
13. Utah (QB 19; offense 14; defense 12)
14. Notre Dame (QB 13; offense 17; defense 12)
15. Texas Longhorns (QB 7; offense 9; defense 17)
16. Washington (QB 11; offense 8; defense NR)
17. TCU (QB 23; offense 22; defense NR)
18. Kansas State (QB 17; offense NR; defense NR)
19. Wisconsin (QB NR; offense NR; defense 9)
20. Iowa Hawkeyes (QB NR; offense NR; defense 5)
21. Oregon State (QB NR; offense NR; defense 22)
22. South Carolina (QB 18; offense NR; defense NR)
23. UCLA (QB 16; offense 14; defense NR)
24. Pittsburgh (QB NR; offense NR; defense NR)
25. Ole Miss (QB NR; offense 18; defense NR)