Another wild Saturday left the AP Top 25 looking ready for a full shake-up, but Oklahoma’s weekend came with a lot less drama than most of the country. The Sooners took care of Mississippi State 23-15, and while the final margin makes it look tighter than it felt, there was never much reason for OU fans to sweat.
Elsewhere, chaos kept humming. No.
2 BYU fell, No. 6 Indiana had to grind through Michigan, No.
19 Texas escaped No. 7 Ole Miss to avoid a second straight loss, and a late-night top-15 battle between No.
10 Utah and No. 14 Houston was still being decided as of writing.
That kind of mess is exactly why the AP rankings should be in for another overhaul when they come out Sunday afternoon. This isn’t the order I think the poll ought to have, but it is the way voters are likely to sort things out after Week 8.
Projected AP Top 25 Poll after Week 8
- Miami
- Ohio State
- Notre Dame
- Georgia
- Indiana
- UCLA
- BYU
- Houston (beating Utah as of writing)
- Kentucky
- Alabama
- LSU
- Utah (losing to Houston as of writing)
- Texas
- Ole Miss
- Wake Forest
- Tennessee
- Florida
- Boise State
- Missouri
- SMU
- Northwestern
- Wisconsin
- Arizona
- Oklahoma State
- Iowa
The biggest ripple in this projection may be USC slipping out of the poll after a 24-7 loss to Wisconsin. That dropped the Trojans to 6-2, and they still don’t have a quality win. It also turned up the pressure on Lincoln Riley, whose seat was already warm.
Still, USC carries real pull with media voters, so there’s a chance the Trojans hang on anyway. If they do fall out, Oklahoma State looks like the most likely team to take that spot. The Cowboys blasted Colorado 57-24 to move to 5-2, and Houston’s win over Utah as of writing only helps Oklahoma State’s case after last week’s 35-32 loss to the Cougars.
At the top, Houston’s marquee result pushes the Cougars into the top 10, while Kentucky and Alabama also slot in there.
For Oklahoma, the bigger picture is starting to look a lot more interesting. If this projection comes close to matching what voters do, the Sooners would have three ranked opponents sitting ahead on the schedule in Florida, Ole Miss and Missouri. South Carolina isn’t ranked, but after upsetting Tennessee, it’s hardly a soft touch.
That stretch, paired with all the chaos around them, gives Oklahoma a path back into the AP Top 25. Beating South Carolina at home next week wouldn’t be enough on its own, but a third straight win, especially against a top-20 Florida team in The Swamp, might be enough to get the Sooners back in.
In Other News...
Oklahoma's Defense Gets A Serious Warning Before Mississippi State
Mississippi State brings a very different kind of test into the matchup, one built around a veer-and-shoot offense that leans on numbers in the run game and works in run-pass options when the look is right. For Oklahomas defense, that means the assignment is less about one dramatic wrinkle and more about staying disciplined snap after snap, keeping the front sound and making sure the Bulldogs dont turn the ground game into easy yards.
The tempo and pace also raise the pressure on the Sooners to communicate cleanly and line up correctly before the ball is snapped. If Oklahoma can stay connected and execute consistently, it can force Mississippi State to work longer drives and avoid the kind of explosive plays that make this offense so difficult to contain. [Read more 🡒]
Ben Arbuckle May Have Found What Oklahoma's Offense Needed
Ben Arbuckle's latest outing as Oklahoma's offensive play-caller offered a clearer picture of what the Sooners have been chasing. In a 23-15 win over Mississippi State that pushed Oklahoma to 4-3, the offense leaned into the running game and turned in its most productive day of the season, finishing with 467 total yards while staying efficient and controlled.
John Mateer did his part by completing 76% of his passes without a turnover, and the backs helped carry the load on the ground. Just as important for Oklahoma, the offense kept the clean sheet it needed by avoiding sacks and giveaways, a combination that gave the Sooners a steadier rhythm than they've had at times this fall and hints at a formula worth building on. [Read more 🡒]
Sooners Finally Got The Formula Right But One Problem Wont Go Away
For one Saturday in Starkville, Oklahoma looked a lot more like the team it expected to be when it entered SEC play. The Sooners beat Mississippi State 23-15 at Davis Wade Stadium, moved to 4-3 overall and 2-2 in the league, and finally put together the kind of clean offensive and defensive showing that has been too rare this fall. John Mateer set the tone with 283 passing yards, two touchdowns and no turnovers, and Oklahomas defense did enough to keep Mississippi State under control for most of the afternoon.
Still, the win did not come without another familiar concern hanging over it. The Sooners left points on the field with missed field goals by Sandell, a reminder that even when the broader formula works, the margins remain too tight for comfort. Oklahoma got the result it needed and some much-needed traction in conference play, but the lingering issue is whether it can keep that balance intact when the pressure rises again. [Read more 🡒]