Oklahoma fell from No. 3 to No. 4 in this week’s College Football Playoff rankings, but it makes no difference to the Sooners as they are still happily in the field of four.
Because of the drop, the anticipated matchup with Alabama may have to wait as the Sooners will now face off with No. 1 Clemson in the first round in the Orange Bowl.
The Sooners have won nine Big 12 titles in the 17 years under Bob Stoops and will be playing in the Orange Bowl for the 19th time. The game against Clemson will be a rematch of last year's Russell Athletic Bowl where the Tigers bludgeoned the Sooners 40-6. But as OU cornerback Zack Sanchez said on the selection show on ESPN, "I don't think any of it is about getting teams back. The ultimate motivation is winning a national championship."
With that in mind, they certainly have the horses to win the big prize. Here are three reasons Oklahoma can win the College Football Playoff.
They are the hottest team going in
When it comes to playoff football, always go with whoever has the hottest hand. Remember Ohio State last year? They were the one team people said probably didn't belong in the Final Four, yet there they were getting on a hot streak and beating the stew out of Wisconsin, Alabama, and Oregon to be the first team to lift the college football playoff trophy.
As the venerable Keith Jackson would say, ole ‘Mo is wearing Crimson. The Sooners look to be the 2015 version of Ohio State with a ton of momentum on their side and a familiar No. 4 seeding. Since that nearly inexplicable loss to Texas, the Big Red has been a focused, well-oiled machine, beating their opponents by an average of 52-19 over the last seven games. OU closed the regular season with wins over three ranked teams, two of them on the road at No. 6 Baylor, No. 18 TCU, and at No. 11 Oklahoma State.
They've got a healthy Baker Mayfield
The only glitch in the last seven games has been the fourth quarter of the Sooners' game with TCU on Nov. 21. In that game, their Heisman candidate quarterback suffered an injury from a late hit in the first half and the Sooner's offense stagnated behind backup Trevor Knight and let a 30-13 fourth-quarter lead come down to a 30-29 nailbiter as the Sooners deflected a possible two-point conversion in the final minute.
With Baker Mayfield back in control the following week against Oklahoma State, the Sooner Schooner sailed on for 524 yards against the best defense in the Big 12, on their way to a breezy 58-23 win. Though Mayfield has been solid all season, his game has picked up in the last month or so, bringing the offense together, keeping plays alive with his escapability and doing things that don't show up in the box score.
A healthy Mayfield equals a healthy chance to win two more games.
Their defense is better than you think
While the Sooners sit fourth among the Final Four in terms in total defense (350.7 yards per game) and scoring defense (20.8 points per game), keep in mind they also played in the highest-scoring offensive conference in the country and faced the best collection of quarterbacks.
Also, when it gets down to crunch time, the Sooner D bows up the best. Of the 38 trips into the red zone against them, OU has given up just 20 touchdowns this season. Hyperactive differencemakers like linebacker Eric Striker (16 tackles for loss) and defensive end Charles Tapper (seven sacks) have been making more and more plays all over the field. Also, the Sooners probably have the best secondary of the lot with the thievery of Sanchez and Jordan Thomas combining for 11 interceptions and both bringing one back for a touchdown this season.
Again, the style of play they've faced may skew the stats a little, but when you are giving up just 201 yards per game through the air and facing Big 12 offenses, that's playing at a national championship level. So we'll see.