Oklahoma is still waiting its turn in the AP Top 25, even after one of the weekend’s loudest results.
The Sooners knocked off then-No. 1 Texas 27-24 in the Red River Rivalry at the Cotton Bowl in Dallas, but that wasn’t enough to get them back into the poll Sunday.
Oklahoma stayed unranked, though it did collect 44 votes after improving to 3-2. Texas, now 4-1, slid six places to No.
That win had real swing-the-board energy for Oklahoma. Peyton Bowen’s 42-yard interception return for a touchdown and Tate Sandell’s 47-yard game-winning field goal helped the Sooners erase a 17-7 halftime deficit and hand the Longhorns their first loss of the season. Still, the voters left Oklahoma outside the Top 25, putting the Sooners among the teams receiving votes.
Oklahoma State had a quieter Sunday, and that was just fine for the Cowboys. They stayed at No. 18 after beating UCF 42-28 in Stillwater, their fourth straight victory.
The Cowboys are headed to No. 20 Houston on Oct. 17 for a 6:30 p.m.
CT kickoff, and it will be the first meeting between the teams as ranked opponents.
The Sooners also have a ranked matchup coming up. They’ll host No.
15 Kentucky on Saturday in Norman for a 6:30 p.m. CT kickoff.
Kentucky jumped 11 spots after its 35-34 overtime win over LSU and is back in the poll after dropping out last week. The Wildcats are at their highest ranking since early October 2022.
Georgia took over the top spot after its win at Alabama, moving to No. 1 for the first time since Sept. 8, 2024.
The Bulldogs received 66 first-place votes from the 70-member media panel and had been No. 2 for five straight polls before beating Alabama 20-17 in Tuscaloosa. Notre Dame rose to No. 2 after a 58-7 rout of Stanford, while Miami sits at No.
- Ohio State and Indiana round out the top five, and Indiana picked up the remaining first-place vote after its narrow win at Nebraska.
Alabama held at No. 6, followed by Texas, BYU, Mississippi and Texas Tech.
Oregon fell all the way out after losing for the second time in the past month. The Ducks, who entered the season ranked No. 2, dropped 17-15 at home to UCLA and disappeared from the poll for the first time since 2022.
UCLA was one of the week’s biggest movers, climbing nine spots to No. 12.
Kentucky’s jump was matched by another major climb: Wake Forest checked in at No. 21 and is ranked for the first time since late October 2022. Northwestern also entered the poll at No. 25 for the first time under fourth-year coach David Braun.
The Cardinals were not mentioned; instead, the poll’s other exits were Florida and Pittsburgh. Florida has gone from No. 8 to No. 16 to out of the rankings over two weeks after losing 38-19 to South Carolina, and Pittsburgh managed just one touchdown on eight second-half possessions in a 21-17 loss to North Carolina.
The top 25 also reflects a crowded SEC picture, with nine ranked teams: Georgia, Alabama, Texas, Mississippi, Missouri, Tennessee, Kentucky, Mississippi State and LSU. The Big Ten placed six teams in the poll, the Big 12 five, the ACC three, plus Boise State from the Pac-12 and Notre Dame as the lone independent.
The slate ahead includes several ranked-vs.-ranked games, including No. 4 Ohio State at No.
5 Indiana, No. 2 Notre Dame at No.
8 BYU, No. 16 Mississippi State at No.
22 LSU, No. 6 Alabama at No.
14 Tennessee and No. 13 Missouri at No.
9 Mississippi.
In Other News...
Three Overlooked Sooners Transfers Just Changed How Fans See This Team
The win over No. 1 Texas did more than reshape the Big 12 race for Oklahoma, it also offered a fresh look at the transfer class that has quietly become part of the Sooners identity. Lloyd Avant led the team in rushing, Dakoda Fields found the end zone on special teams, and offensive lineman EMarion Harris helped keep John Mateer upright in a game where protection mattered on nearly every snap.
For a roster still taking shape, those kinds of contributions carry real weight because they show how many different paths this team can win with. The Sooners did not just get star turns in the rivalry upset, they got useful, game-changing snaps from players who arrived with less fanfare, and that kind of depth tends to change how a team is viewed long after one Saturday has passed. [Read more 🡒]
Oklahoma Has A New Argument Against The AP Poll
Oklahomas win over No. 1 Texas in the Red River Rivalry should have sharpened the case for the Sooners in the AP Top 25, especially with the schedule they have already survived. At 3-2, Oklahoma has taken its lumps against Michigan and Georgia, but the bigger picture now includes a victory over the nations top-ranked team, which is the kind of result poll voters usually reward.
Instead, the Sooners were left out of the latest poll, opening the door to a broader conversation about how teams are being judged early in the season. Compared with some of the ranked teams ahead of them, Oklahomas mix of strength of schedule and quality wins gives it a real argument, and the Texas result only adds to the frustration of being overlooked. [Read more 🡒]
Sooners Fans Got The Rivalry Moment Arch Manning Couldn't Escape
Arch Manning put together plenty of bright moments against Oklahoma, finishing with 260 passing yards and three touchdowns, but the game turned on the kind of mistakes that never go unnoticed in a rivalry setting. He completed 19 of 31 passes and still walked away with a loss after two fourth-quarter interceptions helped swing the outcome, a result that sent Texas tumbling from the No. 1 spot.
For Sooners fans, it was exactly the sort of moment that lingers after a Red River meeting, especially with the Longhorns staring at a difficult stretch ahead. The conversation around Manning has only grown louder since then, with fans and commentators questioning what the performance says about him, and the debate is likely to keep following Texas as the season moves on. [Read more 🡒]