Oklahoma Remains in Position to Host a First-Round CFP Matchup in New Rankings

The Sooners finished their regular season at 10-2 with a win over LSU on Saturday, leaving OU in a great position for the CFP in the penultimate rankings.

Oklahoma receiver Isaiah Sategna celebrates a go-ahead touchdown against LSU. | Kevin Jairaj-Imagn Images

Ahead of this weekend’s conference title games, Oklahoma is still in a spot to host a game in the College Football Playoff. 

For the third week in a row, the Sooners checked in at No. 8 in the new batch of CFP rankings that were released on Tuesday, which would see OU host Alabama on either Dec. 19 or Dec. 20 with the current bracket. 

There’s still plenty of room for things to change this weekend, however. 

An Alabama victory over Georgia in the SEC title game would push the No. 9 Crimson Tide up the rankings, and an upset victory by No. 11 BYU over No. 4 Texas Tech in the Big 12 title game could shake up the CFP field. 

Oklahoma’s spot as a team on the bracket seems secure, but an Alabama victory could mean the Sooners lose their spot as a host.

A Georgia victory on Saturday would all but secure OU’s status as a host, however, after Notre Dame dropped one spot in the rankings to No. 10.

CFP selection committee chair Hunter Yurachek declined to speculate on what an Alabama win in the SEC title game would mean for playoff seeding. 

“I can’t answer that question until I watch the game on Saturday and see how Alabama plays versus Georgia,” Yurachek said on a conference call on Tuesday night. “It’s impossible for me and the committee to predict what could happen with a win or a loss. They’ve got another great opportunity, another metric that other teams do not have.”

The 12-team playoff consists of the five highest-ranked conference champions and seven at-large bids. 

Unlike the 2024 CFP, conference champions will not be guaranteed an automatic bye in the first round. 

Those byes will go to the teams ranked in the top four when the final CFP rankings are released this Sunday. 

Teams ranked from five to eight will then host first round CFP games on campus. 

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Ohio State remained at No. 1, followed by Indiana, Georgia, Texas Tech and Oregon to round out the top five. 

Despite Lane Kiffin’s departure, Ole Miss was ranked at No. 6, and Texas A&M fell from No. 3 to No. 7 following its loss to Texas.

Notre Dame fell to No. 10, BYU is No. 11 and Miami is No. 12.

Tulane landed at No. 20 and North Texas appeared at No. 24 in the rankings, meaning that the winner of that contest in the American Athletic Conference championship game will get one of the spots in the CFP. 

The winner of the ACC Championship is not guaranteed a spot, though. 

No. 17 Virginia would make it into the field if it prevails in Charlotte, but a Duke win on Saturday could instead lead to No. 25 James Madison making the playoff if the Dukes take care of Troy in the Sun Belt title game on Friday night.

While they wait for this weekend’s games to play out, Brent Venables’ Sooners now turn their attention to National Signing Day. 

The Early Signing Period for the 2026 recruiting class opens on Wednesday, and both Venables and OU football general manager Jim Nagy will hold press conferences on Wednesday to discuss OU’s new additions.