Oklahoma’s hot start has college football experts buying CFP hype after Week 3

It's not just Sooner Nation, college football experts around the country have College Football Playoff aspirations for the Oklahoma Sooners.

After a 3-0 start following a 42-3 blowout of Temple, experts from nearly every major outlet have the No. 13 Sooners slotted into one of their predicted playoff spots heading into a Week 4 matchup against the No. 22 Auburn Tigers in Norman.

ESPN, CBS Sports, On3 projections have Sooners in College Football Playoff

ESPN's Kyle Bonagura and Mark Schlabach both predicted the Sooners to get into the CFP with an at-large bid. Schlabach is higher on the Sooners as a projected 8-seed, while Bonagura has OU at No. 10.

Schlabach's prediction would give the Sooners a home playoff game at Gaylord Family-Oklahoma Memorial Stadium against No. 9 Texas A&M in a first-round SEC matchup. According to Bonagura, OU would travel to No. 7 Florida State.

On3's Andy Staples had the same projection as Schlabach, with the Sooners hosting Texas A&M in an 8-9 matchup between old Big 12 foes.

Almost no one has been higher on the 2025 Sooners than CBS Sports' Bud Elliott, though. Even in a preseason prediction, Elliott already had OU as a playoff team. Elliott's co-workers mocked him for the bold prediction, but now he looks like the smartest of the bunch.

Three games later, Elliott is still high on the Sooners, with them earning the 5-seed, just outside of being rewarded a first-round bye. According to Elliott, the Sooners would host No. 12 South Florida in the first round.

The Sooners kick off SEC play at 2:30 p.m. CT Saturday against Auburn to begin the real meat of their schedule. Based on the most recent AP Top 25, every SEC opponent except South Carolina on OU's SEC slate is ranked.

That daunting road almost assures the Sooners' perfect record won't remain, but since the CFP committee is supposed to take strength of schedule into consideration this year, OU should be able to afford a few losses and still make the CFP like all these experts are predicting.

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