The third College Football Playoff Rankings of the season were definitely the most favorable so far for the Oklahoma Sooners, but still not perfect.
The Sooners were No. 8 in the newest CFP rankings on Tuesday after jumping three spots thanks to their 23-21 road upset over then-No. 4 Alabama on Saturday. However, OU was a spot behind an overvalued Oregon team at No. 7.
Committee favoring Oregon over Sooners because of extra loss
The Ducks have the advantage over OU of having one less loss at 9-1, compared to the Sooners at 8-2. The committee is clearly putting more value in that one extra win the Ducks have, no matter what kind of quality opponent it might have come against.
Oregon has yet to beat a team that's currently in the top 25 of the latest CFP rankings, but that could come this weekend against No. 15 USC at home.
The Ducks have beaten then-No. 3 Penn State (based on the AP Top 25) in overtime early in the season and then-No. 20 Iowa two weeks ago, but neither are still ranked. However, CFP committee chair Hunter Yurachek said after Tuesday's rankings reveal that Oregon is still getting credit for its win over Penn State, even though the Nittany Lions have since fired their head coach and are now 4-6.
The Sooners have notched wins against three currently ranked teams, including No. 10 Alabama, No. 18 Michigan and No. 20 Tennessee. Two of those recently came on the road over Bama and Tennessee. The other was a big-time nonconference matchup in primetime against a blue blood. The Ducks' toughest nonconference challenge would either be Oklahoma State and Oregon State, both of which lost to a Tulsa team that's winless in conference play in the American.
OU could also tally a fourth ranked victory on Saturday with a win against No. 22 Missouri. And based on the credit Oregon is getting for Penn State, Auburn was also ranked when the Sooners beat the Tigers, who are now 4-6 and without a coach like Penn State.
As for losses, the Sooners fell to No. 6 Ole Miss and No. 17 Texas. The Ducks lost to No. 2 Indiana 30-20 in what's their only game so far against a currently ranked team.
Just like was the case when the Sooners were behind Notre Dame in the first two rankings, the committee is still caring less about strength of schedule and quality of wins, and instead favoring shiny helmets.