Oklahoma climbs a couple spots in AP poll with road win at Auburn
By Chip Rouse
For much of the Oklahoma-Auburn football game on Saturday, it appeared that the Sooners' five-week run in the top-25 rankings in the 2024 season was about to come to an end. That was until Oklahoma rallies with two touchdowns and 17 points in the fourth quarter to pull out an improbable 27-21 win.
The Sooners were playing their first road game of the season with 11 players out with injuries and with a true freshman making his career start at quarterback. Not an ideal formula for winning a game on the road in the country's strongest college football conference.
But the resilient Sooners hung tough, never quit and managed to find a way to win despite all the odds stacked against them. With the win, Oklahoma improved to 4-1 and moved up a couple of spots in this week's Associated Press rankings to No. 19. The Sooners also advanced one spot in the Coaches Poll, to No. 17.
The top-10 teams are the same in both weekly polls this week with the exception of the order of the top three teams. Alabama takes over the top spot in the AP Top 25 with its dramatic 41-34 win over former No. 2 Georgia. The Crimson Tide is followed by Texas and Ohio State. Texas remains No. 1 in the Coaches Poll with No. 2 Alabama and No. 3 Ohio State.
The SEC, with nine teams in the top-25 rankings for the fifth straight week, leads all conferences. The Big Ten is next with six ranked teams. Nine of the top-10 teams are from either the SEC or the Big Ten.