Preseason AP Poll is setting up the Oklahoma Sooners to have the best story for the playoff committee by years end

With 2024-25 being the first season for the Oklahoma Sooners to be in the SEC, they are set up more perfectly than you may think. Sure, the SEC is a huge step up from the Big 12 in terms of competitions, and that's being shown in their schedule for this year, but it couldn't get […]

Justin Churchill College Football & NFL Trending News Writer
Add as preferred source on Google
Oklahoma Sooners football
BRYAN TERRY/THE OKLAHOMAN / USA TODAY NETWORK

With 2024-25 being the first season for the Oklahoma Sooners to be in the SEC, they are set up more perfectly than you may think. Sure, the SEC is a huge step up from the Big 12 in terms of competitions, and that's being shown in their schedule for this year, but it couldn't get any better for the Sooners in terms of putting out a great story for this season.

Let's stop and take a second to look at the landscape of college football right now. This is the college football playoff era, and this season will feature a new 12-team playoff system. That means more teams will have a better opportunity to make the playoffs, and there won't be as many Florida State's being left out as there was last year.

Last season, the playoff committee left off the Florida State Seminoles because their schedule wasn't great compared to the other teams that made it. They didn't have those big-time ranked wins that the other schools had.

So, this is where it gets good for Oklahoma, because, I think it's fair to say there is a chance this team loses more than one game. It's the SEC, and every team in the SEC last season lost one game. And, let's be realistic, other teams in this conference have better rosters and schedules.

The Sooners' schedule may be tough, one of the toughest, but it will make for a great story for the committee when that time comes.

The Preseason AP Poll just came out, and the Oklahoma Sooners face six top-15 opponents on that poll. That's more than any other team, other than the Florida Gators, who will be nowhere near contention. All six of those games come against SEC opponents.

When the Sooners show up at the end of the year with some big-time wins and just one or two losses on their slate, that story will make for a great one for the committee, who will then feel like they have to put the Sooners in the playoffs. So, yes, we can complain about the Sooners having a brutal schedule, because, well, they do, but there are some positives to it as well.