That number next to the Oklahoma Sooners' name is about to disappear.
The No. 17 Sooners on Saturday suffered their third straight loss after losing to Georgia 72-62 in Athens. OU has started SEC play 0-3 after another pair of losses to No. 5 Alabama and No. 10 Texas A&M within a week's time.
The Bulldogs were the first unranked team to beat OU this season, and when the next set of rankings are revealed on Monday, the Sooners will likely be right there, too.
Less than two weeks ago, the Sooners cracked the top 10 of the USA Today Coaches Poll for the first time this season at No.10. They got as high as No. 12 in the Associated Poll Top 25 after starting the season 13-0 and undefeated during nonconference play.
That same week they peaked in the rankings, the Sooners lost to No. 5 Alabama 107-79 in their SEC opener. A thumping, for sure, but nothing devastating against a Final Four caliber team on the road. That first loss dropped OU five spots to No. 17 in the AP Top 25 and six slots in the USA Today Coaches Poll to No. 16 on Monday.
After climbing the ranks all season, that was the first time the Sooners slipped at all in both polls at the same time.
This week, though, will be catastrophic in the Sooners' chances of being ranked in the near future. First, on Wednesday night, they gave up a monstrous lead to No. 10 Texas A&M to ultimately lose 80-78. That loss alone with a win Saturday might have actually kept OU just grasping at the bottom of the top 25.
Instead, OU dropped a third straight game to Georgia. As the Sooners exit the rankings, the Bulldogs will likely replace them after upsetting a pair of ranked teams this week in No. 6 Kentucky and No. 17 Oklahoma.
In just two weeks time, the Sooners will plummet from a top-10 team to unranked.
The Sooners matching their three-game losing streak with three consecutive wins the next two weeks probably won't be enough to get OU back in the top 25, either. OU's near future includes three unranked opponents in a row -- Texas, South Carolina and Arkansas. Arkansas is the Sooners' only away game, so two home wins over lackluster opponents won't be all that impressive to voters.
Most would argue, especially in January, that none of these rankings even matter. Respect does, though, and these rankings are a measure of what kind of respect the Sooners are getting. OU will get plenty of chances to rebound and gain the respect it lost in such a short time, but even already in January, the Sooners can't afford lose any more esteem.