Oklahoma football: Pro Football Focus projects Sooners as No. 13 in 2023 preseason top 25

Back in January, when the first wave of the so-called way-too-early top-25 projections were issue looking ahead to the 2023 college football season, the Oklahoma football program may have surprised a few folks by breaking into the preview top 25 after such a miserable 2022 season.

The 2023 top-25 projection for the Sooners was fairly universal, although among the final five in the rankings. As the months have progressed, now just a little over two months away from the kickoff to the new season, Oklahoma seems to be gaining media favor, moving up in the preseason rankings.

Earlier this month Athlon Sports came out with its 2023 college preview publication and ranked the Sooners No. 16 in its preseason top 25. This past week Pro Football Focus weighed in on what the preseason top 25 in college football looked like for the 2023 season. PFF has the Sooners at No. 13 in its top-25 ranking, notably one spot ahead of Florida State, the team OU lost to by three points (35-32) in the Cheez-It Bowl.

Max Chadwick of PFF had this to say about the Sooners in his comments about OU’s No, 13 ranking:

"“Brent Venables first season as Oklahoma’s head coach couldn’t have gone much worse, as the Sooners endured their first losing season this century. Still, there’s reason for optimism in 2023. Five of their seven losses were decided by one possession, while four of them were by three points.“Dillon Gabriel is back at quarterback and second among FBS signal-callers in 2022 with a 1.1 percent turnover-worthy play rate.”"

In reporting on the PFF 2023 preseason top 25 and Chadwick’s comments about Oklahoma, Jaron Spor of Sooners Wire, a dedicated OU sports website affiliated with USA Today, offered an additional perspective:

"“Familiarity with the schemes, especially defensively, will provide the biggest reason for the jump in performance from the Sooners.”"