Oklahoma Checks in Outside of Top 10 in Final AP Poll of 2025 Season

Despite reaching the College Football Playoff for the first time since 2019, the Sooners ended the 2025 season outside of the top 10 in the final installment of the AP Top 25.

Oklahoma clocked into the final poll at No. 13 after entering the postseason at No. 8.

Indiana, which defeated Miami 27-21 in Monday’s CFP National Championship Game, ended the year at No. 1, with the Hurricanes taking the No. 1 spot.

The Sooners were the sixth-highest ranked team from the SEC, behind Ole Miss (No. 3), Georgia (No. 6), Texas A&M (No. 8), Alabama (No. 9) and Texas (No. 12).

Four of the five teams ahead of OU also reached the CFP, with Texas being the lone exception. The Sooners lost 23-6 to the Longhorns in the annual Red River Rivalry game on Oct. 11. Texas has won three of the last four meetings in the rivalry series.

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Vanderbilt was the only other team from the SEC ranked in the Top 25 at No. 15. Still, the SEC’s seven teams in the poll were the most of any conference.

Oklahoma held the No. 8 spot in the rankings for the final two weeks of the regular season, conference championship weekend and the postseason.

The Sooners’ lowest position of the season was No. 18. OU held that spot in the preseason and into Week 2 before climbing up to No. 5 in late September. The Sooners fell back to No. 18 after they lost two games — to Texas and Ole Miss — in a three-game span.

After the Ole Miss loss, Oklahoma began to climb back up. The Sooners rose to No. 11 in the poll after their 33-27 win against Tennessee on the road and held that spot in the bye week that followed. OU then climbed to No. 8 after beating Alabama in Tuscaloosa on Nov. 15 and held that spot until the postseason.

The Sooners’ five-spot drop in the rankings comes after they lost 34-24 at home to Alabama in the College Football Playoff First Round. Oklahoma held a 17-0 lead in the second quarter before the Crimson Tide scored 27 unanswered points and eventually earned their 10-point win.

Still, OU’s four-game winning streak to end the regular season — which included victories over Tennessee, Alabama, Missouri and LSU — helped the Sooners finish the 2025 season 10-3 and make the CFP for the first time since the COVID-19 pandemic.

Oklahoma will open the 2026 season against UTEP on Sept. 5. The Sooners will also battle New Mexico and Michigan (on the road) as part of their non-conference schedule, and they will face Georgia, Kentucky, Texas A&M, Florida and Mississippi State for the first time as SEC opponents.