Horns down: Oklahoma beats Texas for Big 12, awaits Playoff fate
By John Buhler
The Oklahoma Sooners avenge their lone loss of the season to the Texas Longhorns to win the Big 12, but must await its College Football Playoff fate.
For the fourth year in a row, the Oklahoma Sooners can claim a Big 12 Championship. No. 5 Oklahoma avenged its only loss of the season to the arch rival Texas Longhorns on Saturday afternoon, winning the Big 12 39-27 at AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas.
Led by Heisman Trophy hopeful quarterback Kyler Murray, Oklahoma played one of its most complete games of the season. With a sound passing game and an opportunistic defense, the Sooners did its part to be in the mix for its third trip to the College Football Playoff. That being said, Oklahoma must be patient to see how its bowl season fate unfolds.
While Oklahoma is likely to get in for the second season in a row and for the third time in four years, Sooner Nation must be in full support of the No. 1 Alabama Crimson Tide on Saturday afternoon. Alabama takes on the No. 4 Georgia Bulldogs in the SEC Championship being played out in Atlanta here shortly.
Overall, the College Football Playoff Selection Committee has the Sooners in prime position to get into the top-four. Oklahoma is ahead of the No. 6 Ohio State Buckeyes, who will have to take on a Northwestern Wildcats team in the Big Ten Championship in Indianapolis that didn’t win a non-conference game this season. At this point, there is nothing Ohio State can do to leapfrog Oklahoma in the final College Football Playoff rankings.
However, Oklahoma may not get into the Playoff if Georgia stuns Alabama in Atlanta in a few hours time. The thought is that No. 1 Alabama wouldn’t drop entirely out of the top-four even with a close loss to No. 4 Georgia. With an upset of Alabama, Georgia would get back to the Playoff for the second season in a row as SEC Champions.
The two other teams vying for Playoff spots are the No. 2 Clemson Tigers and the No. 3 Notre Dame Fighting Irish. Clemson is undefeated and should spank the five-loss Pittsburgh Panthers in the ACC Championship on Saturday night in Charlotte. A shocking loss to Pittsburgh could potentially knock the Tigers out entirely, especially given how well Oklahoma just played in its title bout versus Texas.
Notre Dame is a perfect 12-0 as a national independent, having outlasted the rival USC Trojans in Los Angeles last Saturday night. It would be a complete shocker if Notre Dame doesn’t get in, having navigated its own tough regular season schedule.
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Simply put, Oklahoma did enough in beating Texas to merit inclusion in the College Football Playoff. However, the Sooners need Alabama to defeat Georgia to ensure Oklahoma is getting in. You have to like Oklahoma’s chances at this point. At the very worst, the Sooners will be playing in the Sugar Bowl as a Big 12 Champion with a national No. 5 ranking.