By Addam Francisco
The University of Oklahoma moved up four spots to third in the college football playoff rankings this week, followed by Iowa for the fourth and final spot.
Of course Clemson and Alabama are still a lock at No.1 and No.2 which sets up well for crimson and cream. OU, matchup wise would much rather play Alabama in the first round of the playoffs. Honestly, the only reason Alabama is a lock at the two spot is because of the “SEC privilege.” Oklahoma is the most complete team in college football right now, so don’t be surprised if Oklahoma gets to that final game presumably against Clemson.
At (10-1) Oklahoma is peaking at the right time, with just one game left against Oklahoma State who dropped to No. 11 after losing against Baylor. With a win versus OSU, Oklahoma will will the Big 12 Title.
These are three major reasons why Oklahoma will earn a spot over other one-loss Big 12 teams. (IF THEY BEAT OSU SATURDAY)
- Conference champions
The likely-hood of Oklahoma falling from third, to outside of the top four is very slim if they take care of business against Oklahoma State. Oklahoma’s loss came to Texas back early in the season, which was considered a horrible loss but with the Big 12 using the head-to-head tiebreakers, Oklahoma would be the Big 12 champion once again, provided they beat O-State Saturday. It’s true when they say “if your going to lose, lose early in the season and dominate the rest of the season.”
2. Tough non-conference win(s)
Despite the last obvious reason, what else separates Oklahoma from Baylor and Oklahoma? A big non-conference win. Remember when OU defeated a ranked Tennessee team 31-24 in 2OT? The fact that Tennessee was considered a tough test for the Sooners, along with being in the upper-half of the SEC plays a huge roll in everything. Right now, Tennessee is (7-4) on the season, losing to Oklahoma by seven, Florida by one, Arkansas by 4 and Alabama by 5… That’s an average of 4.25 points per loss. Pretty respectable, especially in the SEC.
Comparing OSU’s non-conference schedule… The Cowboys played Central Michigan (6-5) from a relatively weak conference, Central Arkansas (7-4) from another conference that doesn’t hold much weight, and UTSA (3-8), which clearly is a team that struggles in a mediocre Conference USA.
Comparing Baylor’s non-conference schedule… Baylor blew everyone out, but when your opponents are (2-8) SMU, a (5-6) Lamar team, and (4-7) Rice. Not to mention, their first game against a ranked team ended in a 45-35 loss to who else? Oklahoma.
3. Dominance throughout season
After the loss against Texas, OU has gone (6-0) and have won those games by an average of 33.8 points. If that’s not domination, I don’t know what is.
At this point, it should be clear why the Oklahoma Sooners are ranked 3rd in the playoff rankings, but everything will be clear after the Bedlam showdown this weekend.
To view the latest college playoff rankings go to: thesuavereport.wordpress.com/ncaa-football-playoff-picture
