Oklahoma football fans need to root for Texas in order to keep College Football Playoff dreams alive

This is going to hurt, but it’s the reality after Oklahoma football lost to Kansas State. Now, Sooners fans need to root for Texas to keep their playoff hopes alive.

Can Oklahoma football have a repeat of last year?

Last season, Oklahoma lost to Kansas State and still managed to earn a spot in the College Football Playoff. Following Saturday’s loss at home to the Wildcats, can Lincoln Riley find a way to get the Sooners back in the four-team field?

Well, it’s certainly possible, even if Urban Meyer thinks they have no chance. Although, getting in the playoff will require Oklahoma football fans to do something they never want to do.

Oklahoma football fans need to root for Texas football to win all their games when they aren’t playing the Sooners to have a chance.

Rooting for your rival is one of the hardest things to ask a college sports fan. But it’s a necessary evil if they want to have a chance at winning a national championship.

With a truncated schedule, the opportunities to make up for loss is less than what it was last year. Oklahoma will need as many strong wins on its resume to impress the playoff committee. Without the benefit of a non-conference schedule to beat a quality opponent and without Baylor who was a surprise top-10 team last year, Oklahoma needs Texas to be great.

It’s sacrilegious to think but Oklahoma football fans need to root for Texas football in order to keep their dreams alive for a College Football Playoff berth

This means, Oklahoma needs Texas to win and win big the rest of the way, except when the two meet in their annual rivalry game next month.

If Texas can continue to rise in the AP Top 25 and stack wins, they’ll likely be the only top-10 team they face this year. Oklahoma State may be a solid team, but they’re not a great team and beating the Pokes doesn’t carry the same weight as it would a win vs. the Longhorns.

So Texas has to blowout everyone they play so when Oklahoma beats them, it is a significant boost to their playoff resume. And they can’t just win with a last-second field goal, they’re going to need to blowout Texas as they did so often during the Bob Stoops era.

That will be the memory that lingers in the backs of the minds of the committee when it comes to playoff rankings. And then they’ll need Texas to bounce-back and decimate the rest of their Big 12 schedule to set up a rematch with Oklahoma in the Big 12 Championship Game.

And then, Oklahoma is going to need to demolish Texas a second time to give them the best chance possible at earning one of the playoff berths.

It’ll also help their cause if Georgia and/or Florida have at least one loss to reduce the chances of two SEC teams getting in. I’m already putting Alabama, Clemson and Ohio State in the field, so that leaves one spot for Oklahoma to contend with Texas, Notre Dame, the SEC runner-up, and potentially even Miami and an undefeated Pac-12 champ, although that is much less likely.

In short, for Oklahoma to have the best odds at getting in, they need Texas to be great so when they inevitably beat them, it looks as good as it can on their resume.

For what it’s worth, head coach Lincoln Riley is keeping as optimistic as possible after the loss to Kansas State.

“I’ve heard the same thing for all five years I’ve been here at OU and we’ve been in it three times,” Riley said. “That’s what people have to talk about right now. This is going to be a little bit of a crazy season like they all are. It’s going to be about teams that win, not teams in quality conferences that win. Like we have four out of the last five years, if we have a team in this conference that wins and takes care of business, they’re going to be in the College Football Playoff.”

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