Oklahoma was caught in the middle of the CFP committee's most surprising decision

A week ago, the penultimate College Football Playoff Rankings for the 2025 season had Oklahoma in the No. 8 position -- and, importantly, the last available spot to host a first-round playoff game -- with familiar foe Alabama right behind in the No. 9 spot.

Because Alabama had earned a spot in the SEC Championship Game against Georgia, few were thinking that, win or lose in the conference championship on Saturday, the Crimson Tide would remain where they were the week before in the CFP rankings.

But that obviously was not the thinking of the CFP selection committee, which believed that despite Alabama's 21-point loss to Georgia in the SEC Championship, its schedule strength and body of work over the full season was superior to the other teams in the playoff mix (namely Miami and Notre Dame) and that teams should not be penalized for playing in their conference championship game.

So, like it or not, Alabama retained its No. 9 positioning and will travel to play Oklahoma in Norman on Dec. 19. That's the best news as far as Sooner fans are concerned from Sunday's final playoff rankings announcement.

Notre Dame and Miami snubbed for Bama in CFP

Most fans would agree that a team that earns a spot in its conference championship game should not be seriously penalized for having to play an extra game and losing, especially if it's a close game. Yes, Alabama was the only team to beat Georgia this season, and the Crimson Tide did it at Georgia, but they were dominated in the rematch with the Bulldogs.

What's somewhat difficult to comprehend about this whole situation, however, is why Bama didn't at least drop back to the final at-large spot at No. 10, given the decisiveness by which the Tide lost in the SEC Championship. At the very least, that would have avoided a regular-season rematch in the opening round and against a team in the same conference.

OU-Alabama is one of two rematches from the regular season in the opening round of the playoff. No. 6 Ole Miss and No. 11 Tulane met in Week 4 of the season, with Ole Miss prevailing 45-10.

If this seems like nothing but an excuse not to have to play a dangerous Alabama team, which frankly has more than a playoff win on its mind, it really isn't. Because if it were not the Crimson Tide on the No. 9 line, the only other playoff matchup possibilities for Oklahoma were the Miami Hurricanes or the Notre Dame Fighting Irish, both of which are among the Sooners' biggest gridiron nemeses all-time.

Notre Dame was surprisingly left out of the 12-team playoff field despite a 10-2 overall record and a top-10 ranking all six weeks of this season's CFP rankings. The Irish lost their first two games to Miami and Texas A&M, but ran the table the rest of the way, winning their final 10 games. The determining factor in choosing Miami over Notre Dame for the final at-large playoff spot was Miami's win over the Irish in the head-to-head meeting to open the season.

Both Miami and Notre Dame were playing as well as any team in the country to close out the season, which is one of the criteria the selection committee considers when selecting and ranking the playoff contenders. Notre Dame overcame an 0-2 start to the season to finish 10-2, while Miami's only two losses were by three points to Louisville and in overtime to SMU.

The Sooners enter the playoff ranked 12th in strength of schedule and 8th in strength of record, according to ESPN analytics. By comparison, Alabama ranks 6th in strength of schedule and 10th in strength of record, which is another reason the Crimson Tide ended up where they are.

Both Miami and Notre Dame would also have been formidable playoff foes for Oklahoma and both have all-time winning records versus the Sooners. Miami is 4-3 all-time against OU, with the last meeting in 2009. Notre Dame owns an 8-2 record versus the Sooners, but the two teams have not played since 2013.

As far as 2025 playoff credentials go, Miami ranks 45th in strength of schedule and 14th in strength of record, with wins over three ranked teams at the time the games were played. Notre Dame had the 44th most difficult schedule in 2025 and was 13th nationally in strength of record.

The next game is always the most important on the schedule, and for Oklahoma that game is at home in the opening round of the College Football Playoff against Alabama.