Stormin in Norman
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Oklahoma football: Sooners move up, but only slightly in national rankings

By Chip Rouse

Oklahoma's Dillon Gabriel (8) celebrates beside Austin Stogner (81) and Cayden Green (70) after running for a touchdown during a college football game between the University of Oklahoma Sooners (OU) and the Arkansas State Red Wolves at Gaylord Family-Oklahoma Memorial Stadium in Norman, Okla., Saturday, Sept. 2, 2023.
Oklahoma's Dillon Gabriel (8) celebrates beside Austin Stogner (81) and Cayden Green (70) after running for a touchdown during a college football game between the University of Oklahoma Sooners (OU) and the Arkansas State Red Wolves at Gaylord Family-Oklahoma Memorial Stadium in Norman, Okla., Saturday, Sept. 2, 2023. /
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Oklahoma football moved up in the national rankings after the Week 1 hammering of Arkansas
State, but perhaps not as much as some had expected.

The Sooners are up to No. 18 in the Associated Press Top 25 and also advanced by two spots, to No. 17, in the Coaches Poll. OU’s 73-0 Week 1 win over Arkansas State was dominating, but the voters in the AP and Coaches Poll appear to be waiting to see if that performance translates to an equivalent performance when the competition becomes more challenging.

As a matter of historical record, Oklahoma began the 2000 national championship season ranked 19th in the AP poll and opened the season with a convincing 55-14 win over UTEP. The week following that season=opening victory, the Sooners dropped one spot to No. 20 in the Associated Press Top 25.

This Oklahoma team appears to be a much different version of the 6-7 OU team in Brent Venables’ first season as the Sooners’ head coach. And with very winnable games against SMU and Tulsa in the next two weekends, we can expect to see further advancement for Sooner Team 129 in the national rankings.

Oklahoma is the third highest-ranked of the Big 12 teams in the AP rankings behind No. 10 Texas, which faces No. 3 Alabama this week in Tuscaloosa, and No. 15 Kansas State. TCU, a 45-42 loser to upstart Colorado over the weekend, dropped out of the AP Top 25 after starting out in the No. 17 spot.

The top-five teams in both the AP and Coaches Poll are the same, although in a different order. Georgia, Michigan and Alabama remain at Nos. 1, 2 and 3 in both polls. Florida State is No, 4 in the AP poll and Ohio State No. 5. That order is reversed in the Coaches Poll, with Ohio State No, 4 and Florida State No. 6.

The biggest movers after Week 1 in the 2023 college football season were Florida State, up four in the AP poll after defeating LSU 45-24 over the weekend and three spots in the Coaches Poll. Conversely, LSU dropped nine spots in both polls, to No. 14. Clemson’s 28-7 upset loss to Duke cost the Tigers 16 spots in the AP rankings, to No. 25, and a 12-spot decline, to No. 21, in this week’s Coaches Poll.

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