Oklahoma Remains in Position to Host Playoff Game in New CFP Rankings

With one week remaining in the regular season, the Sooners are still in line to host a first-round contest in the College Football Playoff.

Oklahoma linebacker Kip Lewis | Carson Field, Sooners On SI

Oklahoma enters the final week of the regular season in position to host a College Football Playoff contest. 

The Sooners held steady at No. 8 in the newest CFP rankings that were released on Tuesday night. 

If the season ended today, OU would host No. 9 Notre Dame on either Dec. 19 or Dec. 20 in the CFP. 

Oklahoma vaulted into the top eight following its 23-21 win over Alabama, but Notre Dame’s performance last week opened the door for the Fighting Irish to jump back into a hosting position. 

Notre Dame shredded Syracuse 70-7 this past weekend, while the Sooners only beat Missouri 17-6, but the quality of OU’s win over the Tigers kept Brent Venables’ team in front despite the ugly showing from Oklahoma’s offense. 

Oregon’s victory over USC kept Oklahoma and Notre Dame from leaping higher into the top 10, and now the Sooners will turn their attention to LSU while the Fighting Irish travel to take on Stanford. 

Should the Sooners prevail on Senior Day, they’ll essentially lock up a playoff spot. 

Oklahoma hasn’t participated in the College Football Playoff since 2019, and the Sooners have never been in the playoff in its new 12-team format. 

The strength of the Sooners’ resume lies with OU’s wins. 

Oklahoma’s marquee non-conference victory over Michigan has held strong all year, as the Wolverines enter The Game ranked at No. 15. 

OU also has wins over No. 19 Tennessee in Knoxville and No. 10 Alabama.

The Sooners’ losses, Ole Miss and Texas, were ranked at No. 7 and No. 16 respectively. 

Ohio State remained at No. 1, with Indiana, Texas A&M, Georgia and Texas Tech rounding out the top five. 

The Ducks moved up to No. 6 following the win over the Trojans.

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The College Football Playoff consists of the five highest-rated conference champions and seven at-large bids. 

Unlike the 2024 CFP, the four first round byes will be awarded to the teams in the CFP Committee’s final rankings, regardless of if they are conference champions or an at-large bid. 

The first round contests will be hosted on the campus of the higher-ranked team. 

For the quarterfinal rounds, games will be played at the Cotton Bowl, the Rose Bowl, the Orange Bowl and the Sugar Bowl from Dec. 31-Jan 1. 

The semifinals will be played at the Fiesta Bowl on Jan. 8 and the Peach Bowl on Jan. 9. 

The national title game will be played in Miami on Jan. 19.