Stormin in Norman
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Oklahoma football: Sooners 3rd winningest vs. AP Top-25 in past decade

By Chip Rouse

Fans walk outside the stadium before a college football game between the University of Oklahoma Sooners (OU) and the UTEP Miners at Gaylord Family - Oklahoma Memorial Stadium in Norman, Okla., Saturday, Sept. 3, 2022.Ou Vs Utep
Fans walk outside the stadium before a college football game between the University of Oklahoma Sooners (OU) and the UTEP Miners at Gaylord Family - Oklahoma Memorial Stadium in Norman, Okla., Saturday, Sept. 3, 2022.Ou Vs Utep /
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Oklahoma may have one of the softer 2023 schedules in its final season as a member of the Big 12, but it hasn’t always been that way for the Oklahoma football program.

You have to play the best to be the best, and the Sooners have never shied away from going up against the very best the college game has to offer. During the past decade plus, Oklahoma has been one of the best teams in the country in not only playing but beating teams ranked in the Associated Press Top 25.

The college football staff at 247Sports recently turned back the clock to 2010 to determine the 10 most successful college programs against teams in the AP Top 25 since that time.

Oklahoma is coming off its worst season in a quarter century as it turns the page to 2023, but the Sooners have been one of the country’s top teams for most of the past two decades. In fact, OU’s winning percentage against top-25 teams over the past 12 years is third best in college football.

The Sooners are 42-21 over that time, according to the 247Sports research, for a winning percentage of at .666 (42-21). Only one year between 2010 and 2020 did Oklahoma win fewer than 10 games and in seven of those seasons, the Sooners won 11 or more games. Oklahoma also won eight Big 12 championships between 2010 and 2020, including six consecutive conference titles.

The most successful team against top-25 opponents since 2010 is Alabama (66-18, .725) followed closely by Ohio State (45-15, .750).

Notably, Clemson 36-20, .642), LSU (46-27, .630) and Georgia (39-29, .573) all ranked behind Oklahoma. The rest of the top-10 includes No. 7 Oregon (31-24, .563), Oklahoma State (33-27, .550), Stanford (31-28, .525) and Notre Dame (27-27, .500).

Why is this relevant? Because in the era of the College Football Playoff, and especially after the field expands to 12 teams beginning in 2024, the selection committee is always going to look more favorably at teams that perform best against top 25 teams, and it won’t be unusual for teams in Power Five conferences to play as many as six ranked teams every season, especially in the SEC.

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