Oklahoma Sooners believers get surprising boost from On3's Ari Wasserman

On3’s Ari Wasserman could be the next president of the Oklahoma Sooners’ fan club.

All of On3’s notable college football writers, including Wasserman, recently put out 10 bold predictions for the 2025 college football season. One of Wasserman’s that drew a lot of attention was that he predicted the Sooners to make the College Football Playoff, and he even explained his reasoning on his podcast with Andy Staples. 

Sooners part of college football expert's boldest prediction

Now, predicting a team that went 6-7 last season to make the CFP the next was definitely bold, but hearing Wasserman actually explain why will absolutely blow the minds of OU haters. Some would call it sunshine pumping, but nothing Wasserman explained was illogical. 

The No. 1 reason Wasserman has a lot of faith in the Sooners is because of new quarterback John Mateer, who transferred from Washington State as the top prospect in the Transfer Portal. Wasserman believes Mateer could emerge as one of, if not the, best quarterback in the country this season. 

"I am absolutely hammered drunk on John Mateer hype," Wasserman said. "I've watched him in his highlights and I watched him play last year. I think he has a chance -- stone cold face to you, Andy, right now -- to be the best quarterback in college football this year. That is on the table."

Wasserman also thinks the Sooners’ 6-7 season was a fluke, not a foreshadow of what’s ahead for the program in the SEC. The Sooners have consistently found success season after season for decades, so why would that just abruptly end? 

“I also think that people are undervaluing Oklahoma tremendously going into the year, because we're overreacting or overanalyzing what happened a year ago and thinking that is what they are when actually," Wasserman said, "I think it's more likely that Oklahoma, one of the most consistent programs in the history of college football, had a blip bad year than it is a trend."

Wasserman isn’t the only pundit from On3 who has bought stock in the Sooners’ turnaround in 2025, either. Staples and Josh Pate have both praised the Sooners at some point. J.D. PicKell has hyped up Mateer and the Sooners throughout the entire offseason. 

What that means is there’s even belief in the Sooners outside of Oklahoma. To believe OU could be really successful after going 6-7 isn’t getting drunk on the Kool-Aid, it’s actually reasonable to believe. 

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