Where does Oklahoma football place in CFN's '2024 Offseason First Look'?
By Chip Rouse
Brent Venables' 2023 edition of Oklahoma football finished No. 15 as a member of the Big 12. This fall, though, the Sooners will be competing in the much more competitive SEC.
College Football News this week joined the parade of "Way-too-Early" college football top-25 projections for the 2024 season. In fact, CFN didn't stop at 1-25, it projected a ranking for all 134 teams at the FBS level.
The good news is that the Sooners make the top 25 of the CFN assessment, coming in at No. 13. The not so good news if you're an Oklahoma fan is that six other SEC teams are ranked ahead of the Sooners. No. 2 Georgia is the highest-ranked of the SEC teams followed by No. 3 Texas, No. 5 Alabama, No. 6 Ole Miss, No. 9 LSU and No. 12 Tennessee. And if you didn't already know it, OU plays five of those teams in the 2024 season. The Sooners only escape Georgia out of that Murderers' Row.
Alabama and Tennessee are home games in Norman, Ole Miss and LSU are on the road. The Red River Rivalry game with Texas, of course, is at the Cotton Bowl in Dallas.
Big 12 newcomer Arizona is the highest-ranked of the Big 12 teams, according to the CFN's 2024 Offseason First Look. Three other Big 12 teams made the top 25: No, 21 Oklahoma State, No. 22 Kansas State and No. 25 Kansas.
Fourteen of the 16 SEC teams are ranked in CFN's top 50. Only No. 52 Mississippi State and No. 78 Vanderbilt fall on the on the side of the top 50.