Plenty of Paths to the College Football Playoff Lie Ahead of Oklahoma

Oklahoma still has multiple paths to the College Football Playoff.

The Sooners debuted at No. 12 in Tuesday night's first CFP rankings of the season.

OU would technically be outside the field, as the CFP would have to bump the Sooners and the No. 11 Longhorns to make room for two more conference champions, but there's plenty of season left.

Brent Venables' team has contests against No. 4 Alabama, No. 22 Missouri and LSU remaining. If Oklahoma runs the table, it'll be comfortably in the CFP.

But the Sooners will have chances to sneak into the field even if they fall in Tuscaloosa on Nov. 15.

Even a 9-3 Oklahoma will have a strong resume if the losses come against the Crimson Tide, No. 6 Ole Miss and No. 11 Texas.

The CFP committee showed plenty of respect to the work the Sooners have done so far this year.

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Both Michigan and Tennessee were ranked, giving OU a non-conference victory over the No. 21 Wolverines and a road win against the No. 25-ranked Volunteers.

There's plenty of opportunity for the Sooners to get help, too.

The Longhorns still must square off against No. Georgia and No. 3 Texas A&M, and while a Texas loss would hurt that loss, it would clear out a team currently ranked above Oklahoma.

BYU, which landed at No. 7 in the initial rankings, takes on No. 8 Texas Tech this weekend, and the Cougars still have to play TCU and Cincinnati. It's not out of the question that the Cougars could stub their toes multiple times in November.

The Red Raiders must still meet UCF and West Virginia, but the most important thing for Oklahoma would be if the Cougars and Texas Tech meet again in the Big 12 Championship Game, the regular season winner needs to notch a second victory in Arlington.

No. 9 Oregon still has contests against No. 19 USC and No. 23 Washington ahead.

On the other end of the spectrum, No. 10 Notre Dame only has one marquee matchup left against No. 24 Pittsburgh. Further losses by Miami would also hurt the Fighting Irish after close losses to Texas A&M and Miami weigh against Notre Dame.

Miami's loss last week, paired with Georgia Tech's disappointment against NC State, mean the ACC is likely to get only one team into the CFP, which benefits the SEC and the Big Ten.

Immediately behind Oklahoma is No. 13 Utah, No. 14 Virginia and No. 15 Louisville, but it's not a given that any of those three teams will go undefeated the rest of the year to capitalize if the Sooners drop one more game the rest of the way.

OU has a chance to get healthy and prepare for Alabama, as OU will enjoy its second bye week of the year this weekend.