Where does Oklahoma land in the latest FiveThirtyEight College Football Playoff projections?
The Oklahoma Sooners apparently enjoy a flair for the dramatic. That’s just how the 2021 season has gone. In order to keep things interesting against Kansas, they decided to spot them a 10 point lead going into halftime.
Quite generous of the Sooners, really.
Oklahoma’s poor play against one of the worst teams in college football is still one of the hottest topics in college football. Though it was a win and that’s ultimately what matters most, at some point, it would be nice to see the Oklahoma Sooners put together a complete game.
They aren’t going to be able to have a performance like that against any of their remaining opponents — including anyone they might face IF they make the College Football Playoff — and expect the outcome to be favorable.
With anticipation building for the initial College Football Playoff rankings, let’s take a look at some playoff projections from FiveThirtyEight.com.
FiveThirtyEight, led by Nate Silver, uses statistical analysis for polling and predicting results. ESPN has used its analysis to predict the College Football Playoff participants, college football predictions, and bowl games for years. Today, FiveThiryEight released its College Football Playoff Projections, and the Oklahoma Sooners come in with the second-best chance to make the College Football Playoff.
After getting a big bump in the projections last week after a 21 point win over TCU, the Oklahoma Sooners dipped a bit in this week’s projections. Oklahoma slides from a 52% chance of making the College Football Playoff to 45%. Replacing them with the second-best odds is the Alabama Crimson Tide who now has a 52% chance of making the playoff.
The Georgia Bulldogs remain the top Dawg, but see their chances of making the playoffs dip a bit with renewed faith in the Crimson Tide. The Ohio State Buckeyes rejoin the playoff pack and bumped in-state mate Cincinnati out of the top four.
For Oklahoma, it’s simple, win the rest of your games and make the playoff. Of course, winning has been anything but simple for the Sooners who’ve decided to make every game interesting in 2021.
Things get tougher in the month of November. They have Texas Tech this week, but after the bye, the Oklahoma Sooners get three ranked opponents to close out the season. Can they navigate Championship November undefeated and in the driver’s seat to make the College Football Playoff?
With the way they played this week, it’s anyone’s guess.
List
Positional Report Card: How did the Sooners grade out in their win vs. the Jayhawks?
