The ninth-ranked Sooners are ranked behind Utah and Oregon would have wins against four ranked opponents—Texas, No. 12 Baylor, No. 23 Oklahoma State and No. 16 Kansas State gets into the conference title game. Meanwhile Oregon is 1-1 against ranked opponents with its best win being against No. 25 Washington. Utah’s best win is against No. 17 Arizona State with a loss to 5-4 USC. Neither Utah nor Oregon State has games left against ranked teams heading into this weekend. The combined record of their remaining opponents is 24-28. The combined record of OU’s remaining opponents is 19-6.
Georgia has games left against just one ranked opponent—Auburn—in the regular season and would have with the same number of wins against ranked opponents as Oklahoma if the Bulldogs win out with a conference title. But a win against an undefeated Alabama or LSU might be enough to nudge them ahead of OU. And 5-3 Missouri and 6-3 Texas A&M are as stout as the Pokes and Cyclones. If conference titles matter—like the playoff criteria says they do—a one-loss Penn State, Minnesota or Ohio State would not get in. But that hasn’t stopped the committee before. The strength of record leans toward the Buckeyes and Nittany Lions when compared with the Sooners.
OU needs help. But it doesn’t need a lot. The Sooners have been here before, and OU coach Lincoln Riley knows that.
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