As we gear up for the 2026 college football season, the Oklahoma Sooners find themselves in a familiar position-needing a late-season surge to crack the College Football Playoff (CFP). According to CBS Sports' Brad Crawford, the Sooners are staring down a challenging schedule that could either make or break their season.
Crawford has laid out his predictions for all 16 SEC teams, and for the Sooners, he's forecasting an 8-4 finish. The losses he anticipates are at Georgia, versus Texas, at Florida, and against Texas A&M.
This gauntlet of a schedule is both a blessing and a curse for Oklahoma. While it presents a formidable challenge, it also means that flipping just one of those projected losses into a win could be their golden ticket to the CFP.
The Sooners are no strangers to late-season drama, and Crawford’s predictions echo that sentiment. The season kicks off with a home game against UTEP before a high-stakes road trip to Michigan.
Despite the odds from Vegas, Crawford sees Oklahoma coming away from The Big House with a win, starting their season 3-0. However, the plot thickens as they face Georgia on the road, followed by the Red River Rivalry against Texas, potentially back-to-back battles against Top 5 teams.
If Crawford’s projections hold, Oklahoma would find themselves at 3-2 after these early tests, with head coach Brent Venables under mounting pressure. The heat is on for Venables, especially after three consecutive losses to the Longhorns. The narrative could very well be CFP or bust for him to secure his position through 2027.
Fortunately for the Sooners, the back half of their schedule offers some relief, setting the stage for a potential late-season push. Last season, Oklahoma won their final four games to secure a CFP berth, and they might need a similar run this year.
Despite these opportunities, Crawford predicts a stumble in Florida and a critical home loss to Texas A&M, which could jeopardize their playoff aspirations. However, a victory over the Aggies, especially at home, could be the key to Oklahoma’s CFP hopes, even with three losses on their record.
In this rollercoaster of a season, the Sooners are expected to notch SEC victories against Kentucky, Mississippi State, South Carolina, Ole Miss, and Missouri, alongside that significant win at Michigan. Should they manage to topple Texas A&M, the win against Ole Miss could be the deciding factor that nudges them into the CFP over the Rebels.
This potential resume is nothing short of impressive, and as Alabama showed last year, a three-loss team can still make it to the CFP. For Sooner Nation, this means that even if October feels like the sky is falling, November could still offer a path to redemption.
In Other News...
Kip Lewis Is Already Fueling Buzz Around Two Oklahoma Transfers
Oklahomas push toward the 2026 season is already taking shape after a 10-3 run and a College Football Playoff trip in 2025, and the Sooners transfer class is a big part of the conversation. They brought in 16 transfers this cycle, and defensive leader Kip Lewis has quickly pointed to a pair of newcomers who are drawing early attention on each side of the ball.
The names to watch are EMarion Harris and Trell Harris, two additions Lewis singled out as the kind of players who can make an immediate impression once the season starts. EMarion Harris arrives from Arkansas with the look of a plug-in starter at right tackle, while Trell Harris comes over from Virginia with a chance to help a receiver room that could use more production, leaving Oklahoma with plenty of reason to keep tracking how fast both players settle in. [Read more 🡒]
Kansas Fans Will Have Strong Opinions On This Big 12 Starting Five
The latest wave of Big 12 NBA talent only sharpens the debate about how deep the league has become since the conferences modern era began in 1996. With nine players going in the first round of the 2026 NBA Draft, a conference record, there is no shortage of recent proof that Big 12 programs keep producing pros, and that context helps frame any conversation about the best players the league has ever sent to the next level.
A recent all-time Big 12 starting five built around NBA careers leans into that history and is bound to stir up arguments across the league footprint. The picks include stars from Oklahoma, Kansas and Texas, with names like Blake Griffin, Joel Embiid and Kevin Durant giving the list both instant credibility and plenty of room for disagreement, especially once fans start comparing college impact with what each player became in the NBA. [Read more 🡒]
Brent Venables Is Closing In On Another Future Freak In The Secondary
Brent Venables and Oklahoma have been putting together a 2027 secondary that already looks built around length, versatility and upside, and Jaiden Fields fits that mold as well as anyone in the class. The highly ranked athlete from the 2027 cycle plays both wide receiver and safety, giving the Sooners a chance to keep adding the kind of defensive back who can help in coverage, tackle in space and bring value on both sides of the ball.
Fields wrapped up his final official visit at Oklahoma last weekend after trips to SMU, Texas A&M, TCU and Stanford, and the Sooners now appear to be in position to land another important piece for a class that is already drawing plenty of attention nationally. He would join defensive backs like Bode Sparrow and Jaylen Scott in a group that has helped give Oklahoma one of the top recruiting hauls in college football, with the focus clearly on building a deeper, more athletic back end for the future. [Read more 🡒]