Sooners stick at No. 6 again in latest CFP rankings

NORMAN, Okla. — The College Football Playoff committee released their fourth set of rankings for the 2018 season, and the Sooners stood at No. 6 yet again. They’re still two spots out of where they need to be when the final poll is announced on Selection Day a week from Sunday (Dec. 2).

The rest of the Top 5 also remains the same, as it’s the same exact Top 4 for three straight weeks for the first time ever. Two of the key teams in front of them are No. 3 Notre Dame and No. 4 Michigan, one of who will likely have to lose in order for the Sooners to get into the four-team field. Another one-loss team, Georgia, stands right in front at No. 5.

Alabama tops the poll, while Clemson stands in at No. 2. LSU, Washington State, UCF and Ohio State round out the Top 10 in Nos. 7-10, respectively. West Virginia (No. 13), Texas (No. 14) and Iowa State (No. 25) join the Sooners as Big 12 teams in the Top 25.

OU is down to its final game in the regular season. It heads to Morgantown for a critical Black Friday contest against West Virginia.

“Big week in front of us, obviously going up to play West Virginia,” said head coach Lincoln Riley. “I know [it’s] a game a lot of people have been looking forward to for a long time, one of those games that early in the year you just take a look back and say [that], knowing that we had a chance to be a strong team, certainly knowing that West Virginia has a chance to be a strong team. There was a pretty solid chance that this one was going to be very meaningful, and it certainly is.

“We’re going up there playing a really good football team, without a doubt probably one of the best, if not the best one that Coach [Dana] Holgorsen’s had in his time at West Virginia. [They’re] just a very, very complete team. They’ve done a tremendous job with that program. It’s kind of set up right now for them.”

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Win at West Virginia this week, and OU would be able to bolster its resume even more with a Big 12 Championship Game in Arlington against either Texas or West Virginia again in back-to-back weeks. A loss obviously would end their CFP hopes.

As mentioned, a Michigan, Notre Dame and even an Ohio State loss may be necessary, but the Sooners are still within striking distance and have a 27 percent chance to make the CFP, per 538. Now the focus is on moving to 11-1 with a victory when they square off with the Mountaineers at 7 p.m. CT Friday on ESPN.

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