College Football HQ

Joel Klatt names SEC 'grenade' that could eliminate teams from CFP race every week

Joe Cox|
FOX Sports analyst Joel Klatt riffed on an SEC team that could become "The Elimintor" in the SEC CFP race
FOX Sports analyst Joel Klatt riffed on an SEC team that could become "The Elimintor" in the SEC CFP race | Kirby Lee-Imagn Images

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Oklahoma Sooners

FOX Sports analyst Joel Klatt discussed an SEC team that could be the super spoiler of the league's CFP contenders down the stretch of the 2025 season on his podcast. In contemplating significant games ahead on his podcast, Klatt discussed the potential spoiler role for Oklahoma.

Klatt's thoughts on OU

OU is basically the grenade of the SEC. You see, if OU is real, they're going to just start eliminating teams one by one. Texas, maybe Tennessee in this case, maybe Alabama at this point, maybe Missouri later in the year, maybe LSU.... If they just start splitting all of those and they go 3-3... and they finish 9-3, they could be knocking themselves and everybody else out. So OU is kind of a linchpin team for the College Football Playoff the rest of the way and they're kind of the grenade right now.
Joel Klatt

Oklahoma's potential spoiler season

Off a 5-0 start, Oklahoma is slated to play South Carolina and a half dozen SEC teams that are basically the list of contenders for the CFP. The six remaining teams (those listed above by Klatt plus Ole Miss) all have at least a 21.8% shot at a CFP spot per ESPN's most recent FPI rankings. But four of the teams have sub-35% CFP chances, so those teams are narrowly hanging in the Playoff picture, pending potential costly losses to Oklahoma.

Oklahoma's own Playoff chances seemingly took a hit with the revelation that John Mateer had surgery on a hand injury and would be out for an unspecified amount of time. But after an off week and an easy win over Kent State, rumors are strong that Mateer may return for the Red River Shootout with Texas on Saturday.

Oklahoma is second in the nation in scoring defense (7.6 points per game allowed) and is first in yardage allowed at just 193.0 yards per game. Combine that with an offense that is 20-for-20 in scoring in red-zone possessions this season (including 15 touchdowns) and it's no wonder that Oklahoma does indeed pose a similar threat to a grenade to the CFP hopes of several SEC foes down the stretch of the 2025 campaign.

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Joe Cox
JOE COX

Joe is a journalist and writer who covers college and professional sports. He has written or co-written over a dozen sports books, including several regional best sellers. His last book, A Fine Team Man, is about Jackie Robinson and the lives he changed. Joe has been a guest on MLB Network, the Paul Finebaum show and numerous other television and radio shows. He has been inside MLB dugouts, covered bowl games and conference tournaments with Saturday Down South and still loves telling the stories of sports past and present.

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