The first College Football Playoff rankings of 2026 didn’t just drop a top 25 - they laid out the kind of schedule Oklahoma has been fighting through all season.
Tuesday night’s reveal on ESPN made one thing obvious fast: the selection committee is putting a premium on strength of schedule. That would normally help the Sooners, except OU has spent the year running straight into a brutal slate and hasn’t been able to keep pace.
Seven ranked teams from the initial CFP rankings are still on Oklahoma’s schedule: No. 2 Georgia, No.
7 Texas, No. 10 Ole Miss, No.
18 Missouri, No. 21 South Carolina and No.
24 Florida. In other words, the Sooners are set to face nearly 30% of the teams in the top 25 that are in the hunt for the 12-team bracket.
New Mexico is also in the mix, even though it missed the top 25 for now and is expected to be the next Group of 6 team to jump in after No. 25 Boise State.
OU has already gone 1-2 against ranked opponents, with Ole Miss, Missouri and Florida still waiting down the road. The Gators will host the Sooners on Saturday night in Gainesville. Texas A&M is the only unranked team left on Oklahoma’s schedule.
Initial CFP Rankings
- Miami
- Georgia
- Utah
- Indiana
- Alabama
- Kentucky
- Texas
- UCLA
- BYU
- Ole Miss
- Notre Dame
- Ohio State
- Tennessee
- LSU
- Texas Tech
- Wake Forest
- Houston
- Missouri
- Iowa
- USC
- South Carolina
- Arizona
- Oregon
- Florida
- Boise State
The bigger picture for Oklahoma is simple: the schedule got tougher, not easier, as the season unfolded. That was supposed to be part of the challenge, and the Sooners knew it going in.
Even back in August, this was a team that looked like it would have to earn everything. The first five games alone included three teams ranked in every preseason poll.
Michigan beat OU 17-10, though the Wolverines have since fallen off. Texas and Georgia, meanwhile, are still very much in the CFP conversation as top-10 teams entering Week 10.
New Mexico also gave the Sooners a fight in a narrow 14-6 Oklahoma win.
What was supposed to be the softer stretch never really turned into one. Kentucky has been one of the season’s biggest surprises, sitting at No. 6 with a 7-1 record after beating Oklahoma 21-13 the week after the Sooners upset Texas in the Red River Rivalry.
November doesn’t offer much relief, either. Florida has put itself in position to sneak into the CFP picture if it keeps winning. Ole Miss remains dangerous even without Lane Kiffin at the helm, and Missouri is living up to its preseason billing as a top-20 team.
Still, none of that changes the fact that Oklahoma entered the year with CFP hopes and is now 4-4, fighting just to stay above .500. This rankings release was supposed to be about where the Sooners stood in the playoff race. Instead, it mostly served as a reminder of how punishing their path has been.
In Other News...
Oklahoma Defense Suddenly Has A Brent Venables Problem
Oklahomas defense took an uncharacteristic step backward against South Carolina, and Brent Venables did not try to soften the blow afterward. The Sooners gave up 521 total yards in a game that exposed basic issues across the field, with tackling at the center of the breakdown. Venables pointed to fundamentals as the problem, and the numbers backed up the frustration, with Oklahoma missing 25 tackles in the loss.
Even in a rough afternoon for the defense, there were a few individual bright spots on the other side of the ball. Ivan Carreon turned in a career day with 88 yards and two touchdowns, giving the Sooners something to build on offensively. On defense, though, the spotlight fell on linebacker Kip Lewis, who led the team in missed tackles and finished with a low performance grade, leaving Oklahoma with more questions than answers as it tries to clean up the issues that surfaced so suddenly. [Read more 🡒]
Oklahoma Heads Into Florida With One Major Secondary Concern
Oklahomas trip to Florida is carrying a little more uncertainty than the Sooners would like this late in the week, with the secondary drawing the most attention. Cornerback Eli Bowen and safety Peyton Bowen are both listed as questionable, and that matters for a defense that will need every available body against a Florida offense that can test coverage in different ways.
The injury report does not stop there, either, with Jacobe Johnson, Dakoda Fields and Ryan Fodje already confirmed out or doubtful, which trims the margin even further. Florida has its own question mark in receiver Vernell Brown III, but for Oklahoma the bigger issue is whether it can get enough healthy pieces on the back end to feel comfortable before kickoff. [Read more 🡒]
Florida Suddenly Has A Major Lineup Problem Before Oklahoma
Florida is heading into its matchup with Oklahoma with more than one hole to patch, and the timing could hardly be worse. Starting defensive tackle Jeramiah McCloud will miss the game because of a suspension for conduct detrimental to the team, while several other players are also dealing with injury concerns that could force the Gators to reshuffle both sides of the ball.
Vernell Brown III and Emmanuel Oyebadejo are among the names listed as doubtful or questionable, leaving Florida to sort through replacements before facing a Sooners team that will be paying close attention to every change. The Gators are expecting lineup adjustments across the roster, and the final availability report will go a long way toward showing just how deep the disruption runs. [Read more 🡒]