Skip to main content
All Sooners

Oklahoma Ranked its Lowest in Seven Years in Preseason Coaches Poll

A dip was expected in OU's first year under first-time head coach Brent Venables, but the Sooners haven't been ranked this low to start a season since before Lincoln Riley.
John E. Hoover|
Oklahoma Ranked its Lowest in Seven Years in Preseason Coaches Poll
Oklahoma Ranked its Lowest in Seven Years in Preseason Coaches Poll

After six consecutive years of starting the college football season at No. 8 or higher, Oklahoma took a dip in this year’s USA Today AFCA Coaches Poll.

The Sooners come in at No. 9 in this year’s preseason poll, their lowest ranking to start a season since 2015, when Bob Stoops hired Lincoln Riley as offensive coordinator and OU opened at No. 19.

OU was No. 8 in 2017, Riley’s first year as Stoops’ replacement. The Sooners have been No. 3, No. 6, No. 4 and No. 5 in the four previous preseason coaches polls.

This year’s change at the top from Riley to Brent Venables — coupled with the fact that no offensive or defensive players were picked to the preseason All-Big 12 team — is an indicator of what other coaches think about the Sooners this year. OU returns just four full-time starters on defense and seven starters or former starters on offense.

Alabama is No. 1 in this year’s preseason poll, receiving 54 of 65 first-place votes. Ohio State is No. 2 and got five first-place votes, while defending national champion Georgia comes in at No. 3 and received six first-place votes. Clemson and Notre Dame round out the top five, while defending Big Ten champ Michigan is No. 6, Texas A&M is No. 7 and defending Pac-12 champ Utah is No. 8.

OU is the highest-ranked Big 12 team — one spot ahead of No. 10 Baylor and two spots up on No. 11 Oklahoma State.

Texas, coming off a 5-7 season, comes in at No. 18, while future Big 12 opponents Cincinnati (No. 22) and Houston (No. 25) are also ranked.

As usual, the Southeastern Conference had the most teams ranked. In addition to Nos. 1, 3 and 7, Kentucky comes in at No. 21, Arkansas is No. 23 and Ole Miss is No. 24.

Riley’s USC team — just 4-8 last year — opens this season at No. 15 in the coaches poll.

The Associated Press preseason Top 25 will be released Aug. 15.

Add us as a preferred source on Google

Loading recommendations... Please wait while we load personalized content recommendations

Published
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.

Share on XFollow johnehoover
Home/Football