After just three weeks of action, the College Football Playoff picture is starting to take shape. Early frontrunners like Texas, Ohio State, and Tennessee have looked dominant through the first few games of the season and appear well on their way to making the 12-team field.
Meanwhile, other squads like Florida State and NC State, who appeared to be real contenders in the preseason, have already fallen out of the playoff picture and have been tossed aside in that discussion almost altogether.
In Big 12 country, there are several teams climbing up ESPN’s FPI rankings and look more and more like playoff contenders every week. In fact, there are several teams in the new-look Big 12 that sitting in a better spot than the goliath that used to rule the roost around here.
According to ESPN’s FPI, there are four Big 12 teams who have better odds of making the College Football Playoff than Oklahoma. While the Sooners have just a 14.5% chance of making the CFP, UCF (36.7%), Kansas State (33.7%), Oklahoma State (21.2%), and Utah (15.5%) all have a better chance of making a run at a national title.
Oklahoma, who left the Big 12 for the SEC this past summer, is getting a heavy dose of “It Just Means More” this fall, and that starts this weekend when No. 6 Tennessee comes to town.
The Sooners were rarely — if ever — underdogs in conference games at home during their time in the Big 12, but find themselves on the wrong side of a touchdown spread this weekend and will likely be in a situation like this multiple times throughout the year.
As things stand on Thursday, September 19, Oklahoma’s remaining schedule looks like this:
- vs. Tennessee (No. 4 FPI)
- at Auburn (No. 26 FPI)
- vs. Texas (No. 1 FPI)
- vs. South Carolina (No. 33 FPI)
- at Ole Miss (No. 6 FPI)
- vs. Maine (FCS Opponent)
- at Missouri (No. 10 FPI)
- vs. Alabama (No. 2 FPI)
- at LSU (No. 22 FPI)
Do you think the Sooners are missing their perch atop the Big 12 yet?
