Oklahoma’s march back to the Top 10 went a little backwards this week when the AP dropped the Sooners one spot to #19, following their 28-11 win over SMU. This caused me to do something that I never do, or at least want to do, which is agree with the Coaches Poll, who actually rewarded the Sooners for winning. The Coaches bumped OU up one spot to #16 while only making room for three new teams as opposed to the four added by the AP this week.
What it came down to for Oklahoma in Week 3 was the addition of Miami, Washington State, UCLA, and Iowa into the Top 25 and overcompensating Colorado for beating a Nebraska team that now sits at 0-2 to start the season. Beauty is in the eye of the beholder though, and right now the media thinks that Dion Sanders in gorgeous. Don’t get me wrong, though. I think what the Buffs are doing is impressive, and I rewarded them by moving Colorado up from #25 to #24, which may seem little but it’s way more than what the Sooners got for beating a team that has actually won a game this season.
Yes, I’m an OU fan, and yes I can be a bit of a homer at times, but there are two primary reasons why Oklahoma should have moved forward and not backwards this week. First, it was a more impressive performance than what we’re allowing it to be. We get caught up on the offensive side of the ball, especially if we’re talking about the Sooners in recent years, and the fact that OU only scored 28 points raised some eyebrows. Doing so with a quarterback who threw for less than two hundred yards makes it all the more concerning, despite the fact that said quarterback threw for four touchdowns and is tied for the second most passing touchdowns in the Big 12 right now. We became so accustomed to Oklahoma scoring 49-plus points, and racking up over six hundred yards of offense, that when they have a 28-point/365-yard performance we automatically assume something is wrong, even if they did cover a -15.5 point spread. We’re also not talking about the Sooner defense enough. You have to go all the way back to November 5, 2016 to find the last time the Mustangs scored fewer points than what they did in Norman on Saturday evening.
Here’s the second reason Oklahoma should have moved up. SMU is a pretty dang good football team! Keep an eye on what happens on September 23rd. That’s when they play at TCU. They could very well be knocking on the door of the Top 25 after that game, but even if they do lose to the Frogs they’re still likely to end up in the rankings sooner rather than later.
Those two reasons were completely lost on the current group of media members voting for the AP. They still view the Sooners as the 6-7 squad from last season that failed to have a winning season for the first time since 1998. What they’re actually doing is missing one of the biggest stories in the Big 12 Conference, which is the revitalization of an OU defense that ranks 35th in total defense and 6th in scoring defense. These guys are actually becoming fun to watch on defense again!
I Moved Utah Into My Top 10 This Week
It wasn’t pretty, but it was impressive. The Utes scored a come from behind 20-13 win at Baylor on Saturday. The Bears were going to give everything they had, and then a little bit more, after being upset by Texas State in the season opener. Utah missed covering the spread by half a point, but what they did do was score a win, on the road, against a soon to be conference opponent, without their starting quarterback.
I Didn’t Drop Anyone From My Rankings This Week
Three teams in my Top 25 (Alabama, Wisconsin, Tulane) suffered losses over the weekend but none of them dropped out. The most likely candidate to have done so would have been Tulane, but Texas A&M getting steamrolled by Miami saved the Green Wave. The Aggies were just on the outside looking in last week and their loss now leaves Tulane hanging in my Top 25 by a thread.
Heartland Sports 2023 Preseason Week 3 Top 25
| Rank | Team | 2023 Record | Last Week’s Ranking |
| 1. | Georgia | 2-0 | 1 |
| 2. | Michigan | 2-0 | 2 |
| 3. | Ohio State | 2-0 | 3 |
| 4. | USC | 3-0 | 5 |
| 5. | Penn State | 2-0 | 6 |
| 6. | Florida State | 2-0 | 7 |
| 7. | Washington | 2-0 | 8 |
| 8. | Texas | 2-0 | 10 |
| 9. | Tennessee | 1-0 | 9 |
| 10. | Utah | 2-0 | 11 |
| 11. | Notre Dame | 3-0 | 11 |
| 12. | Alabama | 1-1 | 4 |
| 13. | Oregon | 2-0 | 13 |
| 14. | LSU | 1-1 | 14 |
| 15. | Kansas State | 2-0 | 15 |
| 16. | Clemson | 1-1 | 16 |
| 17. | Oregon State | 2-0 | 17 |
| 18. | North Carolina | 2-0 | 18 |
| 19. | Ole Miss | 2-0 | 20 |
| 20. | Oklahoma | 2-0 | 22 |
| 21. | TCU | 1-1 | 21 |
| 22. | Wisconsin | 1-1 | 19 |
| 23. | UCLA | 2-0 | 23 |
| 24. | Colorado | 2-0 | 25 |
| 25 | Tulane | 1-1 | 23 |
The Next Five Out: Iowa (2-0), Arkansas (2-0), Kentucky (2-0), Kansas (2-0), Mississippi State (2-0)
Teams Most Likely To Rise This Week: Tennessee, LSU, Oklahoma,
Team Most Likely To Drop This Week: Washington, LSU
Unranked Team That Shouldn’t Be: Arkansas
Alright, there it is! Dissect it, break it down, and tell me where I’m right or wrong.
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