Oklahoma wasted no time giving the College Football Playoff conversation a jolt.
The Sooners opened 2025 with a 51-0 rout of UTEP, a game that looked lopsided from the start and stayed that way all the way through. It was the kind of performance that showed up on both sides of the ball, and it immediately nudged Oklahoma’s playoff outlook in the right direction.
ESPN’s Football Power Index moved the Sooners from a 28% chance to make the CFP up to 31.2% after the win. That puts Oklahoma at No. 13 nationally and No. 6 in the SEC.
The jump is a welcome sign for Brent Venables’ team, but the real test is still ahead. Oklahoma’s path gets a lot steeper in Week 2 with a trip to Michigan, and SEC play begins later in September. The Sooners also still have Georgia and Texas on the schedule, which means plenty of chances to strengthen a resume that will be judged against top-tier competition.
Oklahoma’s opener was the easy part. The bigger question is whether the Sooners can carry that same level of control into the games that matter most.
They made the playoff last season for the first time under Venables, finishing 10-3 before falling to Alabama, 34-24, in the first round. This season, they’re chasing something bigger than another appearance.
For now, the 31.2% projection says Oklahoma looked every bit like a team that belonged in the conversation after one game. The next few weeks will decide whether that number turns into something much more meaningful.
In Other News...
Oklahoma Faces One Big O-Line Concern Going Into Michigan
Oklahomas offensive line came out of the season opener with more questions than answers, and the timing is less than ideal with Michigan next on the schedule. Jake Maikkula and Ryan Fodje were sidelined, and Michael Fasusi exited early with a shoulder injury, leaving the Sooners to piece together protection in a game where the front five was already under the microscope.
Offensive coordinator Ben Arbuckle sounded confident the group can adjust, and there is at least some good news on the depth-chart front: Maikkula and Fodje are expected back for Week 2. Fasusi, though, is still the more uncertain case, and his status could shape how much flexibility Oklahoma has when it tries to settle the line before a marquee road test. [Read more 🡒]
Michigan Knows Oklahoma Will Expose This Fast If Nothing Changes
Michigan came out of a frustrating stretch last week with players openly calling the performance disappointing and embarrassing, then followed it with a player-led meeting aimed at cleaning up the issues before the next step in the schedule. After the uneasy win over Western Michigan, the message inside the room was simple enough: the level of play has to rise quickly, because a stronger opponent is waiting and there will not be much room for the same mistakes.
Oklahoma has plenty of reason to pay attention to that kind of self-scouting, because a team still sorting through its own standard tends to find out fast whether the corrections are real. The players involved said they know the challenge ahead and understand they need better effort, but the real test is whether that urgency carries onto the field when the matchup finally arrives. [Read more 🡒]
Brent Venables Defends What Makes Oklahoma Different From Everyone Else
Brent Venables has made no secret of how much he values the kind of early-season test Oklahoma just took on by lining up Michigan in a nonconference matchup. At a recent press conference, the Sooners coach talked through both sides of that equation, noting that games like that bring obvious challenges but also serve a purpose beyond the standings. For Oklahoma, they fit into a long-running habit of meeting top programs early, a tradition that still helps shape how the team is viewed and how it prepares.
Venables also acknowledged the larger landscape could make those heavyweight nonconference games harder to find if playoff structures change. Even so, he framed them as more than a scheduling choice, pointing to their importance in recruiting and in getting a team ready for the grind ahead. In a sport where some programs prefer to avoid risk, Oklahoma has continued to lean into it, and Venables appears intent on keeping that edge intact for as long as the format allows. [Read more 🡒]