Oklahoma's All-SEC Snubs Give Sooners 'More to Play For' in College Football Playoff

While 12 Sooners received All-SEC honors, some OU players believe more could have been rewarded for their outstanding seasons.

Oklahoma defensive lineman David Stone | Carson Field, Sooners On SI

NORMAN — With 12 players named to the 2025 All-SEC teams, Oklahoma had the second-most selections this season behind only Georgia.

Still, the Sooners believe they deserved more.

“People have their opinions — they’re like toilets … PG version,” linebacker Kobie McKinzie said. “It is what it is.”

Kicker Tate Sandell, punter Grayson Miller and defensive end R Mason Thomas all made the coaches' All-SEC first team announced Tuesday, while wide receiver Isaiah Sategna, offensive lineman Febechi Nwaiwu, defensive end Taylor Wein, safety Peyton Bowen and long snapper Ben Anderson all earned second-team honors. Cornerback Eli Bowen and tight end Jaren Kanak rounded out the OU names on the coaches ballot, both making the third team.

And in the Associated Press' All-SEC teams announced a day later, linebacker Owen Heinecke and defensive tackle Gracen Halton joined that group on the All-SEC second team along with Thomas, and Sategna, Miller and Sandell were all named AP first-team.

The SEC champion Bulldogs landed 15 total players among the coaches and media.

Meanwhile, from the best defense in the conference and arguably the nation, the Sooners’ entire linebacker room was shut out from All-SEC selections.

McKinzie is one of the several OU defensive players with a legitimate argument that he could have been honored. A redshirt junior, McKinzie logged 32 tackles, 6.5 tackles for loss and a sack in the regular season.

Redshirt junior Kip Lewis leads the team in tackles with 72, and he also registered four pass deflections and three sacks in the regular season. Heinecke — a former walk-on — compiled 67 tackles and two sacks, and his 10 tackles for loss were the second most of any Sooner defender, behind only Wein.

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Oklahoma’s interior defensive linemen also didn’t receive any love from the conference coaches.

Sophomore defensive tackle David Stone recorded 43 tackles, eight tackles for loss and 1.5 sacks in the regular season, while Halton, a senior, went for 31 tackles, seven tackles for loss, 3.5 sacks and a defensive touchdown.

“I feel like some of the D-tackles didn’t get enough love, and our linebackers. I felt like we could’ve had a couple more,” Peyton Bowen said.

In the first round of the College Football Playoff, Oklahoma will battle an Alabama squad that had five players receive All-SEC honors. The Sooners beat the Crimson Tide 23-21 in Tuscaloosa on Nov. 15.

It’s playoff time, and the Sooners don’t need any extra motivation as they hope to make a run deep into January. But the all-conference snubs would seem to give OU’s players a little extra fuel before they take on the Crimson Tide.

“It's all good,” Halton said. “Just got to get better, man. I've been doubted my whole life, so I just got to overcome adversity. That's what it is.”

Peyton Bowen added, “That’s just more for them to prove this week and throughout the playoffs.”