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Oklahoma football: No. 12 in CFP rankings puts Sooners on edge of New Year’s Six bowl

By Chip Rouse

An Oklahoma football is pictured before a college football game between the University of Oklahoma Sooners (OU) and the TCU Horned Frogs at Gaylord Family-Oklahoma Memorial Stadium in Norman, Okla., Friday, Nov. 24, 2023. Oklahoma won 69-45.
An Oklahoma football is pictured before a college football game between the University of Oklahoma Sooners (OU) and the TCU Horned Frogs at Gaylord Family-Oklahoma Memorial Stadium in Norman, Okla., Friday, Nov. 24, 2023. Oklahoma won 69-45. /
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Oklahoma football Team 129 inched forward, settling into the No. 12 spot in the penultimate College Football Playoff rankings of the 2023 season.

That position puts the Sooners right on the edge of earning a New Year’s Six bowl assignment. Three other two-loss teams are ranked ahead of Oklahoma, which is a debatable issue, but the bigger problem as far as earning a prime bowl selection is how No. 22 Tulane ends up.

The Green Wave will play SMU on Saturday in the American Athletic Conference championship game. Should favored Tulane go chalk in that game, the Green Wave are likely to earn one of the NY6 bowl spots.

Then comes the argument about whether OU deserves to be ranked higher than the two-loss teams ranked ahead of the Sooners: Missouri, Penn State and Ole Miss. The ESPN Football Power Index, for example, ranks OU 8th with Ole Miss 15th and Missouri 16th. The SP+ measurement index, which takes into account several other key factors, ranks Missouri 12, Oklahoma 13 and Ole Miss 14.

The point being that OU, Missouri and Ole Miss are so closely related on a statistical basis that  come up with a definitive ranking is difficult.

One big factor that weighs in Oklahoma’s favor, however, is Quad 1 wins this season. A Quad 1 win is a home victory over teams ranked 1-30, neutral field wins over teams 1-50 and road wins against teams 1-75. Based on this metric, Oklahoma has more wins against Quad 1 opponents (4) than Ole Miss (3) and Missouri (2).

If Oklahoma misses out on a New Year’s Six bowl this season — and the consensus among college football experts is that the Sooners will play in the Alamo Bowl — there is an argument to be made that it is deserving of one of the prime bowl assignments.

The one factor that would turn all of this on its head as far as OU is concerned is if Oklahoma State were to upset Texas in the Big 12 Championship game.

Something that is less debatable, however, is who are the four most best teams in college football at this point in the season. The top four teams in the playoff rankings heading into championship week are No. 1 Georgia, Michigan Washington and Florida State, all undefeated. Four of the five power conferences are represented in this mix with the Big 12 being left out. Texas is the highest ranked Big 12 team at No. 7.

The final CFP rankings will be released on Sunday.

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