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It’s official: OU’s playoff streak ends

CFP dream over, Sooners now await bowl destination
John E. Hoover|
It’s official: OU’s playoff streak ends
It’s official: OU’s playoff streak ends

Oklahoma’s playoff run is over.

The Sooners’ bowl destination will be announced later Sunday, but during the College Football Playoff selection show on ESPN, the committee revealed this year’s playoff field, and OU’s streak of three straight appearances is over.

Alabama, Clemson, Ohio State and Notre Dame comprise this year’s field.

After winning its sixth consecutive Big 12 Conference crown, a 27-21 victory over No. 6-ranked Iowa State on Saturday, No. 10-ranked OU (8-2) had faint hopes of returning to this year's playoff but could only climb to No. 6.

The College Football Playoff began in 2014, and the Sooners have now been in the playoff field in four of the seven seasons, finishing finished unranked, No. 4, No. 7, No. 2, No. 4, No. 4 and No. 6. 

During the broadcast, ESPN analyst Kirk Herbstreit said Oklahoma is "an example of a team that got better as the year went on. ... If you look at the way, from the Texas game on, the way they are trending ... again, put them on the field. I would not want to play Oklahoma right now. They are a different team than when they lost those two games."

The Sooners have been to a bowl game every year since since 1999, a school-record run of 22 straight seasons. With Virginia Tech opting out of the postseason this year, OU’s streak is now the second-longest in the nation behind Georgia (24).

Oklahoma is 29-23-1 in bowl games all-time. Lincoln Riley is 0-3 as a head coach in the postseason, with all three losses coming in the College Football Playoff.

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John E. Hoover
JOHN E. HOOVER

John is an award-winning journalist whose work spans five decades in Oklahoma, with multiple state, regional and national awards as a sportswriter at various newspapers. During his newspaper career, John covered the Dallas Cowboys, the Kansas City Chiefs, the Oklahoma Sooners, the Oklahoma State Cowboys, the Arkansas Razorbacks and much more. In 2016, John changed careers, migrating into radio and launching a YouTube channel, and has built a successful independent media company, DanCam Media. From there, John has written under the banners of Sporting News, Sports Illustrated, Fan Nation and a handful of local and national magazines while hosting daily sports talk radio shows in Oklahoma City, Tulsa and statewide. John has also spoken on Capitol Hill in Oklahoma City in a successful effort to put more certified athletic trainers in Oklahoma public high schools. Among the dozens of awards he has won, John most cherishes his national "Beat Writer of the Year" from the Associated Press Sports Editors, Oklahoma's "Best Sports Column" from the Society of Professional Journalists, and Two "Excellence in Sports Medicine Reporting" Awards from the National Athletic Trainers Association. John holds a bachelor's degree in Mass Communications from East Central University in Ada, OK. Born and raised in North Pole, Alaska, John played football and wrote for the school paper at Ada High School in Ada, OK. He enjoys books, movies and travel, and lives in Broken Arrow, OK, with his wife and two kids.

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