There's no worry in Oklahoma about the Sooners making the College Football Playoff as long as they beat the LSU Tigers on Saturday, but there's still no promise of Gaylord Family-Oklahoma Memorial Stadium hosting a first-round playoff game.
The Sooners stayed put at No. 8 in the fourth edition of the CFP rankings of the season that featured little movement in the top 12 on Tuesday evening. If the season ended today, the Sooners would get to host No. 9 Notre Dame in Norman for the first round of the playoff, but there's still a week in the regular season and conference championship games left, so that honor could still be ripped away.
Oklahoma stays put in College Football Playoff Rankings
The CFP bracket projection ahead of Rivalry Week 👀
— ESPN (@espn) November 26, 2025
Which of these teams might not be here by the final bracket? 🤔 pic.twitter.com/28F7aFYXOP
Teams ranked 5-8 get to host first-round games on campus, while Nos. 1-4 get first-round byes. Every game beyond the first round is at a neutral site. So, first, the Sooners need to lock in their spot, but second, they need everything else to go right to stay in the top 8 to keep home-field advantage.
With just a trip to Stanford left on the schedule and no conference championship game, there shouldn't be any fear that Notre Dame does anything impressive enough to jump OU and steal away hosting rights for their potential matchup. However, the committee has shown favor to the Fighting Irish before, so that is still a possibility regardless of common sense.
Despite a head-to-head victory, though, No. 10 Alabama could be the one to earn hosting rights over OU in the next two weeks. The Crimson Tide play Auburn in the Iron Bowl on Saturday, and a win there puts them in the SEC Championship Game. Even with two losses like OU, including to the Sooners, Alabama's potential resume with an SEC title could be enough for the committee to deem the Crimson Tide more worthy than the Sooners to host.
No. 11 BYU could also use a conference title to earn a home game. The Cougars are 10-1 with a loss to No. 5 Texas Tech, so if they avenge that loss in the Big 12 Championship Game, it would be hard to argue against Provo getting a playoff game. However, that scenario could also include Texas Tech getting dropped from the top 8, but the committee is not supposed to knock teams for losing in conference championship games.
And all this could happen while the Sooners are at home watching Championship Saturday unfold with no way to make a final impression. And sometimes, recency bias is enough to miss out.