Oklahoma football: Sooners at No. 9 in first 2023 College Football Playoff rankings
By Chip Rouse
The firstCollege Football Playoff rankings of the 2023 season were released on Tuesday with Oklahoma football claiming the No. 9 spot.
Texas is the highest ranked of the five Big 12 teams that made the initial top-25 playoff rankings. The 7-1 Longhorns are ranked No. 7, followed by Alabama, which Texas beat earlier in the season.
The Sooners (7-1), who lost for the first time this season, falling to Kansas this past weekend, most likely would have been ranked among the top-six teams and above Texas had they not fallen from the unbeaten ranks on Saturday. All things considered, OU is probably fortunate to be at No. 9, given how inconsistent the Sooners have played in the last two weekends.
Kansas (6-2) likely got a big boost after its upset of Oklahoma. The Jayhawks checked in at No. 21 in the first CFP rankings of the season. Oklahoma State (6-2), the Sooners’ opponent this weekend, is one of the hottest teams in the Big 12 right now. The Cowboys are No. 22 in the rankings followed by Kansas State at 23. K-State travels to Texas this weekend, so something is going to give there. The same is true of the Oklahoma-Oklahoma State game.
Ohio State took the No. 1 seed in the debut playoff rankings of the season. The Buckeyes are followed by Georgia, Florida State and Michigan. Washington and Oregon finished off the top six teams.
There are a number of huge matchups scheduled in championship November and the final four weeks of the regular season, which will surely shakeup the initial playoff rankings.
The SEC led the Power 5 conferences with six teams ranked in the CFP top 25. The Big 12 and Pac 12 both placed five teams in the initial rankings.