Oklahoma football: Sooners No. 6 in both major polls this week
By Chip Rouse
There was little change for 7-0 Oklahoma football this week in the national rankings after the Sooners avoided what would have been a major upset, defeating UCF by the narrow score of 31-29 on Saturday.
Oklahoma remained No. 6 in the Associated Press rankings and moved up one spot to No. 6 in the Coaches Poll vote this week.
The top seven are the same in both polls: Georgia, Michigan, Ohio State, Florida State, Washington, Oklahoma and Texas. The Longhorns (6-1) are the highest ranked of the one-loss teams. The Sooners and Longhorns, both of whom are leaving the Big 12 to join the SEC after this season, are the only Big 12 teams ranked in the top 25.
North Carolina, a 31-27 loser on Saturday to a one-win Virginia team, was the biggest mover in both polls, falling seven spots from No. 10 to No. 17. Penn State. which lost 20-12 at Ohio State dropped down to No. 10 in both polls. The Nittany Lions, previously No. 6 in the Coaches Poll, were replaced in that spot by Oklahoma.
Sooner fans are probably overjoyed to learn that Lincoln Riley and USC suffered a second-straight loss, this week at home to Utah. The Trojans were 6-0 and 10th in the AP Top 25 two weeks ago. They dropped to No. 18 after the loss to Notre Dame. This week, they are 6-2 and No. 24 with games against Washington and Oregon, both ranked in the top 10, looming.
Perhaps the most challenging stretch of the season for the Sooners lies on the immediate horizon with road trips to much-improved Kansas followed by the Bedlam rivalry game at Oklahoma State the week thereafter.