While there certainly wasn’t a small number of Oklahoma fans expecting the Sooners to be at #5 in this week’s College Football Playoff rankings, the fact that they’re still sitting behind Utah absolutely isn’t a dream killer either. Here’s why…
Here’s what this is going to come down to – Oklahoma and Utah. We’ve seen this debate boiling up over the last few weeks and it could reach a rage status Saturday night through Sunday morning. If both teams win their respective conferences then they both will have an argument to be in the Final Four…and argue they will.
Of course ahead of that debate both schools need LSU to claim the S.E.C. title to remove Georgia from the #4 spot. A Bulldog upset in Atlanta could mess the whole thing up as it would likely put two S.E.C. schools in the playoff yet again.
Assuming everything goes with the status quo, next up would be the comparison between the Sooners and Utes. Both teams suffered road losses in conference, both would be conference champions, both would have a good argument to be in the playoff.
In my opinion it’ll come down to two factors that sway heavily in Oklahoma’s favor. First, is competition. Baylor sitting at #7 is extremely beneficial to the Sooners. Not only would it have provided a Top 10 win in the conference championship (Something that Utah won’t have) but the Bears only losses this season would have come at the hands of OU. That will be a huge factor!!!!
Secondly, and possibly most important, is marketing. I hate to say it but truth is truth, Oklahoma has name recognition and Utah doesn’t. Sooner fans travel and pack a stadium and the OU logo on the helmet will get television viewers to tune in. I’m not sure you can say that about Utah and don’t think for a second the committee won’t discuss this as a factor.
What all of this means is that Oklahoma fans can rest easy about the most recent playoff rankings. They’re in if they beat Baylor.
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Oklahoma will certainly pull more viewers than Utah. However that number grows exponentially with all the Bama fans tuning in to watch Hurts knowing the Crimson Tide has been removed from the playoff conversation.
And we haven’t even mentioned all the Texas fans tuning in to root for whoever Oklahoma plays in the post-season…
That’s a really good point!