Good thing offseason predictions, especially even before spring practices start, almost never come true, or else Oklahoma fans wouldn't have any reason to look forward to the 2026 college football season.
CBS Sports' Brad Crawford on Monday released an updated way-too-early College Football Playoff and bowl projections as Transfer Portal chaos has settled and teams will soon start spring camps, including the Sooners. Crawford already tried to predict the 2026 12-team playoff field just after the national championship game and did not include the Sooners making a return trip. He once again had the same opinion this time on OU, while also handing the Sooners a bowl matchup that wouldn't excite anybody.
Crawford predicted the Sooners to face Louisville in the Gator Bowl at EverBank Stadium in Jacksonville, Florida. It would be the fourth time OU played in the Gator Bowl after appearances in 1947, 1991 and 2020, when the Sooners thumped the Florida Gators 55-20 after just missing out on going to the CFP.
Brad Crawford predicts Sooners to face Louisville in Gator Bowl
.@BCrawford247's updated 2026 College Football Playoff projection 👀
— CBS Sports College Football 🏈 (@CBSSportsCFB) March 2, 2026
FULL bowl projections 🔗 https://t.co/f8uVM88gAT pic.twitter.com/na5hSzDWAq
This projected meeting would also create a unique matchup as just the third time OU and Louisville faced off. The last time was Bob Stoops' first season leading the Sooners in 1999. If there's any consolation to the Sooners actually making the Gator Bowl, the last time they did, OU won a national title the next season.
A 2026 clash between OU and Louisville would actually be an intriguing matchup with Jeff Brohm having the Cardinals soaring, but only in the regular season or CFP. A bowl game would erase any sort of interest as players from both teams would surely opt out and create a pseudo junior varsity game. The Sooners getting sent to the Gator Bowl could also lose Brent Venables his job, leaving OU with an interim for the game. However, Stoops stepping up again as interim head coach would definitely catch the attention of OU fans.
Regardless, it's College Football Playoff or bust for the Sooners in 2026 with so much talent returning. Most national college football analysts don't see it that way, though, but they also didn't see it coming in 2025 in October, let alone March.