Oklahoma football: Sooners gain in Coaches Poll, lose ground in AP Top 25

Oklahoma football gained a couple of spots in the Week 3 Coaches Poll but took a step back, according to the media representatives who make up the Associated Press weekly poll.

The Sooners defeated unranked SMU 28-11 on Saturday on a day that saw all kinds of movement, both up and down, from the previous week’s national rankings. Oklahoma was part of that movement, gaining one position in the Coaches Poll to No. 17. The voters in the AP poll didn’t see it that way, however, dropping the Sooners one spot to No. 19 behind, Oregon State, Ole Miss and Colorado, all of whom were behind OU in the rankings a week ago.

Sooner archrival Texas was one of the big movers, rising to No. 4 in the Coaches Poll and No. 6 in the AP Top 25 after its 34-24 road upset of previously No. 3 Alabama. Colorado also made a big jump, climbing seven spots to No. 18 in the AP poll and up four to No. 21 in the Coaches Poll.

Three teams from the Big 12 are ranked this week. Besides Texas and Oklahoma, Kansas State is No. 15 in both the AP and Coaches polls, unchanged from last week.

The Pac-12, which has just two teams remaining after this season and appears headed for extinction, is a combined 21-4 through the first three weeks of the 2023 college football season and leads all conferences with seven teams ranked in both the AP Top 25 and the Coaches Poll.

Five SEC teams are ranked in the top 25 this week and four each from the Big Ten and the ACC.