Poll Data: Oklahoma rises in AP poll after triumph in Bedlam
The Oklahoma Sooners effectively control their own destiny on the path to the Big 12 championship game, and as of Sunday afternoon, they've reclaimed their pedestal as the conference's top-ranked team.
The Sooners jumped four spots to No. 14 in the latest AP poll, vaulting past No. 15 Iowa State and occupying now-No. 21 Oklahoma State's former slot. The Cowboys dropped seven spots after taking a 41-13 thrashing at the hands of Spencer Rattler and company on Saturday night.
The only team that made a bigger leap up the rankings than Oklahoma is No. 11 Northwestern, which gained eight slots after a 17-7 win over then-No. 10 Wisconsin. No. 25 North Carolina is the only new team in this week's poll.
The top eight remains unchanged for the second consecutive week. No. 1 Alabama garnered all 62 first-place votes, and the Tide are followed by Notre Dame, Ohio State, Clemson, Texas A&M, Florida, Cincinnati and BYU. New to the top 10 are No. 9 Oregon and No. 10 Miami.
For the second straight week, the state of Oklahoma has all three of its FBS teams represented in the poll (OU, Oklahoma State, No. 24 Tulsa).
Sooner Nation now turns its attention to the first College Football Playoff poll of the season, which will be released Tuesday night. Oklahoma could very well be ranked significantly higher by the CFP committee, as three of the five teams directly above the Sooners have played five or fewer games.
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