Ad Disclosure
Oklahoma Playoff rankings: Fans, media react to Sooners ranking
Published:
The College Football Playoff committee ranked Oklahoma No. 8 in the first rankings of the 2021 season and Twitter certainly had thoughts.
Oklahoma, the only team in the country that can claim it is 9-0 on the season, checked in just one spot above Wake Forest and right behind Michigan, despite the Wolverines coming off a loss to Michigan State just last weekend. The top four in the first Playoff rankings featured 2 1-loss teams in No. 2 Alabama and No. 4 Oregon.
The Sooners have been no strangers to drama this year as nearly every game they’ve played has featured some kind of craziness. A 5-point win over Tulane opened the year, but the Green Wave have just one win in eight games this year. OU beat 3-6 Nebraska by just seven points at home, West Virginia by just 3 at home, nearly gave away the Kansas State game in Manhattan, and switched quarterbacks against Texas to spearhead a 21-point comeback. Two weekends ago, Oklahoma trailed Kansas 10-0 at the half.
In reacting to the polls, ESPN’s Kirk Herbstreit said the Sooners checking in at No. 8 made sense given they have yet to play a complete game on the year. Here’s some reaction from the rest of the college football public:
https://twitter.com/TheMikeWoods/status/1455675031019741188?s=20
https://twitter.com/TheMikeWoods/status/1455674834017456143
No one should be surprised that Oklahoma is down to No. 8. The eye test is real. Brand name bias often overlaps but it's an unfair criticism of the committee. Oklahoma has failed the eye test basically every week and doesn't have a big win.
— David Ubben (@davidubben) November 2, 2021
Michigan being ranked ahead of Oklahoma in the first playoff rankings is Michigan's biggest win under Jim Harbaugh so far
— Aaron Torres (@Aaron_Torres) November 2, 2021
It’s official from the CFP: Oklahoma is name brand Wake Forest.
— Bryan Fischer (@BryanDFischer) November 2, 2021
LOLLLLLLLklahoma
— 🦍BUM CHILLUPS AKA SPENCER HALL🦍 (@edsbs) November 2, 2021
It's not where you are it's where you are going: OU has Baylor, Oklahoma State, Iowa State and then one of those teams again.
Plenty of fuel to make a run.
— Ralph D. Russo (@ralphDrussoAP) November 2, 2021
Lincoln Riley is going to send the CFP selection committee a gift basket. Best thing that could’ve happened to Oklahoma.
— Gabe Ikard (@GabeIkard) November 2, 2021
Oklahoma being at No. 8 doesn't matter. If the Sooners win out, they're getting in the playoff. The tough part of the schedule is ahead of them:
Baylor
Iowa State
Oklahoma State
Big 12 title game— Chris Hummer (@chris_hummer) November 2, 2021
Derek Peterson does a bit of everything, not unlike Taysom Hill. He has covered Oklahoma, Nebraska, the Pac-12, and now delivers CFB-wide content.