Oklahoma Opens 2025 Inside Top 20 of AP Preseason Poll

The Sooners extended their streak of appearing in every AP Preseason Poll since 2000 on Monday.

Oklahoma head coach Brent Venables at SEC Media Days in Atlanta. | Gary Cosby Jr. / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

Oklahoma will start the year ranked in the AP Poll. 

Brent Venables’ Sooners checked in at No. 18 in the preseason poll, which was released on Monday. 

Just as in the Coaches Poll, which was released last week, the Texas Longhorns will start 2025 as the No. 1-ranked team. 

Penn State followed Texas at No. 2, then came Ohio State, Clemson and Georgia. 

Notre Dame was rated at No. 6, and the Fighting Irish were followed by Oregon, Alabama, LSU and Miami to close out the top 10. 

The Sooners will also take on South Carolina, who debuted at No. 13, Michigan (No. 14), Ole Miss (No. 21) and Tennessee (No. 24) in the 2025 regular season. 

---

Read More Oklahoma Football

• Why Oklahoma Coach Miguel Chavis Believes Danny Okoye Can Become 'Household Name'
• What Kind of Leadership Does QB John Mateer Bring to Oklahoma?
• How Oklahoma's Troy Everett Went from Lightly Regarded Transfer to Pivotal Senior

---

Missouri and Auburn, who are also on the Sooners’ schedule this year, also received votes for the preseason AP Top 25.

Oklahoma and Michigan will take center stage during Week 2 of the college football season. The Sooners will host the Wolverines at 6:30 p.m. on Sept. 6, and the game will be broadcast on ABC.

OU will take on Texas on Oct. 11 at 2:30 p.m. at the Cotton Bowl in Dallas.

Kickoff between Oklahoma and Missouri is slated for 11 a.m. in Norman on Nov. 22, but official kickoff times still need to be set for the rest of OU's SEC matchups.

OU in the Preseason AP Poll

Oklahoma is No. 18 in the AP Top 25 Preseason Poll pic.twitter.com/uM1STzascK

— Carson Field (@CarsonDField) August 11, 2025

Oklahoma has been ranked in the preseason AP Poll every year since 2000.

The Sooners were out of the preseason AP Poll from 1996-1999. Before that, OU was ranked for 28 straight years in the preseason poll.

As a program, OU ranks second all-time in appearances in the preseason AP Poll. 

Ohio State leads the way with 72 appearances, Oklahoma has appeared 67 times, followed by USC (64) at No. 3, Notre Dame (62) at No. 4, Alabama (59) at No. 5and Texas (58) at No. 6.

Oklahoma Gets No Coaches Poll Respect

Head coach Brent Venables runs drills during a fall camp practice. | NATHAN J. FISH/THE OKLAHOMAN / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

The Sooners were left out of the preseason Coaches Poll last week. 

It was the first time since 1999 that OU entered the preseason unranked in the Coaches Poll. Oklahoma was the top team receiving votes.

Seven of Oklahoma’s 2025 opponents were ranked in the Coaches Poll.