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Oklahoma-Alabama Needs a Little More Spice, so ESPN Brings a Tasty Treat

When the Sooners and Crimson Tide meet in the CFP, ESPN's "College GameDay" will be back on the OU campus, this time with a playoff version.
John Hoover|
Oklahoma coach Brent Venables on set with Pat McAfee before ESPN's "College GameDay" before OU-Michigan.
Oklahoma coach Brent Venables on set with Pat McAfee before ESPN's "College GameDay" before OU-Michigan. | Steve Sisney/For The Oklahoman / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

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Oklahoma Sooners

Because the Playoff Party at the Palace wasn’t quite big enough … ESPN is bringing one more element to spice up the recipe.

“College GameDay” will originate from Norman next week when the No. 8-ranked Oklahoma Sooners host the No. 9 Alabama Crimson Tide in a College Football Playoff first-round game at Oklahoma Memorial Stadium.

College football's two most successful programs since the end of World War II — they rank No. 1 and 2 in all-time victories since then, and have combined for 20 national championships — meet again on the field on Friday, Dec. 19, at 7 p.m.

But ESPN’s traveling pregame sideshow will broadcast from OU's South Oval from 5-6 p.m., then finish their show from 6-7 p.m. inside the stadium.

OU (10-2) takes on Bama (10-3) in a first-round playoff rematch of their Nov. 15 regular-season clash in Tuscaloosa, won 23-21 by the Sooners.

The “College GameDay” crew features host Rece Davis along with analysts Kirk Herbstreit, Desmond Howard, Nick Saban and Pat McAfee life on-site to provide analysis and predictions before kickoff.

The Sooners’ week two home victory over Michigan marked the 42nd time “College GameDay” was staged from the site of an OU game — the third-most of any college football program since the show debuted in 1995, tied with Florida. Michigan is next at 41. When the 2025 season began, only Ohio State (63) and Alabama (60) had played in more games that originated “GameDay” than OU.

The Sooners are 28-14 in games where “GameDay” hosted at the site. OU’s .667 win percentage as the show’s host or co-host ranks No. 4 all-time behind USC (18-6, .750) and Ohio State (42-20, .677) among teams with at least 12 appearances to start the season.

The OU-Alabama winner will face No. 1 seed and Big Ten champion Indiana in the CFP quarterfinals at the Rose Bowl on Jan. 1 at 3 p.m. CT in Pasadena, CA.

Oklahoma is making its fifth CFP appearance but first since 2019. After going just 2-6 in conference play last year in their maiden voyage in the SEC, the Sooners roared to a 6-2 finish in league play this year, powered by one of the nation's most unyielding defenses and a spectacular special teams unit.

OU comes into the postseason have won four in a row to close out November and is the only FBS team in the country to win five games against teams ranked at the time in the AP Top 25.

Alabama is coming off a 28-7 loss to Georgia in the SEC Championship. The Tide was 7-1 in SEC regular-season play this season, with the only loss coming to the Sooners a month ago.

That was the Crimson Tide’s first loss at Bryant-Denny Stadium in SEC play since 2019 and ended the nation's longest home winning streak at 17.

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OU also beat Bama 24-3 in Norman in 2024 and is now 5-2-1 in the head-to-head series all-time, which includes an OU victory in five of the last six meetings.

Other first-round CFP games: No. 12 seed James Madison at No. 5 Oregon, No. 11 Tulane at No. 6 Ole Miss and No. 10 Miami at No. 7 Texas A&M. The four first-round byes went to No. 1 Indiana, No. 2 Ohio State, No. 3 Georgia and No. 4 Texas Tech. Last year, in the initial 12-team version of the CFP, the home teams all won their first-round matchups, then went on to the neutral-site bowls to win all four games in the next round against the higher seed.

The Sooners are making their fifth College Football Playoff appearance, which ties Georgia for fourth-most in the country behind Alabama (nine), Clemson (seven) and Ohio State (seven). OU played in the four-team CFP in 2015 (Orange Bowl), 2017 (Rose Bowl), 2018 (Orange Bowl) and 2019 (Peach Bowl).

Oklahoma made the postseason for a school-record 27th year in a row, which trails only Georgia (29). The 2025 season is OU's 43rd season with at least 10 wins, which trails only Alabama (44). Since the end of World War II (1946 season), OU leads the nation with 716 victories (28 more than second-place Alabama).

OU is 8-3 in December home games. The Alabama first-round CFP contest will mark the latest home game in the calendar year in the Sooners' 131-year history. The previous latest home game came in 1985 when OU beat SMU 35-13 on Dec. 7. Barry Switzer's team went on to beat Penn State in the Orange Bowl to claim the program's sixth AP national title.

OU Media Relations contributed to this report.

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John E. Hoover
JOHN 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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