Preseason predictions are meant to be wrong, right? Hopefully.
On3's Ari Wasserman just released his College Football Playoff predictions for the 2026 season, and although his projected 12-team field would break viewing records and go down in history, Oklahoma fans would prefer things go literally any other way.
Starting with the good news that Sooner Nation will like to hear, Wasserman not only has the Sooners returning to the CFP in back-to-back seasons, but also has them finally capturing that elusive first playoff win that OU has failed to tally in five tries so far. He has the Sooners as the No. 11 seed and hitting the road to Lubbock to beat old Big 12 foe Texas Tech as the No. 6 seed in the first round.
Getting to be the ones to hush up the rich Red Raiders, who became public enemy No. 1 throughout college football over the offseason, would certainly be the cherry on top for the Sooners while also notching that first playoff win.
That would then set up a CFP matchup that would break college football as the Sooners and No. 3 Texas Longhorns meet for a second Red River Rivalry in the same season at a neutral site other than the Cotton Bowl in Dallas. That also happened in 2018, when the Sooners lost to Texas during the regular season before getting revenge in the Big 12 Championship Game at AT&T Stadium in Arlington. This Round 2, though, would likely make for the first Red River Rivalry outside of Texas borders since 1922, unless it was in the Cotton Bowl (the actual bowl game, not the stadium) at AT&T Stadium.
Read more: Oklahoma football coaches who owned the Red River Rivalry during their tenures
But that's where the joy would end for Sooner Nation, according to Wasserman. He predicts the Longhorns to end OU's season before going on to win it all as national champions with a victory over Oregon in the CFP National Championship Game.
NEW: College Football Playoff Preseason Prediction via @AriWasserman🏆
— On3 (@On3) July 29, 2026
Do you agree?🤔https://t.co/oCbipUsGHG pic.twitter.com/oIE0uYEZOy
Oklahoma fans would prefer any other death than Ari Wasserman's prediction
That, no doubt, would be the worst ending ever suffered in Oklahoma. Worse than a blowout loss to USC and even worse than Baker Mayfield's career ending with a shootout against Georgia in the Rose Bowl.
And that agony would endure all offseason and for nearly a year, if not even longer. Even if the Sooners beat the Longhorns in the 2027 edition of the Red River Rivalry, Texas fans would still be unbearable and feel as if they still had bragging rights as defending national champs. They're already insufferable right now (and always, really) after back-to-back Red River Rivalry losses for OU as they keep bringing up the fact the Sooners didn't reach the end zone in either loss. A season-ending loss to Texas would be a dagger to the heart twisted over and over again.
It's thankfully just a prediction and a lot would have to happen for it to come true, but even that at least one person thinks it's possible is a terrifying thought. But on the flip side, that's also one win over Texas away from the Sooners trading places with the Longhorns and Austin instead being the least happiest place in America for an offseason as Sooner Nation got to rub it in.
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