CBS Sports Slots Oklahoma No. 4 In Post-Spring Rankings
Spring football is officially in the rearview mirror with the calendar shifting to May and the focus turning to the summer ahead of the 2022 college football season.
While the first games that actually count are still roughly four months away, the picture for what teams will look like next season is starting to become a little bit more clear - albeit with more transfer portal movement still to come before fall camp rolls around in August.
With that, CBS Sports’ Dennis Dodd has compiled the top-25 for how things are shaping up as of right now - with Oklahoma near the top at No. 4 despite the coaching and roster turnover this offseason.
“The pick here is Oklahoma at No. 4 ... for now,” Dodd wrote. “Brent Venables has never been a head coach, but Lincoln Riley left quite a cupboard.”
The Sooners land just behind Alabama, Ohio State and Georgia who reside in spots 1-3, respectively.
“It's hard to pick the Sooners to win the Big 12 when they didn't in Lincoln Riley's last season and now have Brent Venables as a rookie head coach,” Dodd wrote. “That's not to disparage what was just about a perfect hire by athletic director Joe Castiglione. The OU defense will be better because it can't help but be under Venables. But these are transition years with one foot in the SEC and another trying to kick Big 12 butts. UCF transfer Dillon Gabriel gives Venables a plug-and-play quarterback. The running back position is deep.”
Dillon Gabriel and Brent Venables
Kevin Jairaj / USA TODAY Sports
Oklahoma comes in as the highest-ranked Big 12 team, just ahead of Baylor who lands right behind OU at No. 5.
Texas and Oklahoma State make up the rest of the conference teams to make the rankings, coming in at No. 17 and No. 20.
As for the Sooners’ former head coach Lincoln Riley and the USC Trojans, they come in at No. 14.
“Just to get to a bowl game would be a dramatic improvement,” Dodd wrote. “But that's why USC is paying Lincoln Riley a reported $110 million over 10 years. Riley must develop a running game and some toughness in both lines. Quarterback Caleb Williams is the headliner in Hollywood.”
So, for all the discussion about Oklahoma potentially taking a step back in the first year under Brent Venables, at least one major publication still likes the Sooners to return to the College Football Playoff.
OU’s first game is set for Sept. 3 at home against UTEP at Gaylord Family - Oklahoma Memorial Stadium in Norman.
