Saturday's Week 9 heavyweight matchup between No. 8 Ole Miss and No. 13 Oklahoma essentially determined who had a clear inside path to the SEC Championship Game — and likely the College Football Playoff as well. Both teams entered with just one loss on the year, Ole Miss at Georgia last week and Oklahoma in Red River against Texas without QB John Mateer. Another ranked win would put the victor in a great spot to control their destiny on the road to Atlanta, and maintain some margin for error in the race for an at-large bid in the Playoff.
In the end, it was Ole Miss who survived a frenetic second half thanks to some more clutch play from QB Trinidad Chambliss. The Rebels' 34-26 victory reasserted themselves as one of, if not the, team to beat in the conference. The Sooners dropped to 6-2, but that's not necessarily a death sentence in this new era of the sport.
This is the second year of the expanded 12-team CFP, and the SEC is bound to have several representatives. However, the switch to straight seeding could impact the Sooners' path to the postseason. Let's break it down.
What is Oklahoma's most realistic path to the College Football Playoff?
Oklahoma is bound to drop in the next AP poll, but likely not by much. The Sooners can chalk this week up as a "good" loss as Ole Miss, a team that could very well be on the war path to their first SEC title since 1963.
Head coach Brent Venables will have to prepare for four consecutive weeks facing ranked opponents (as the rankings currently stand). Tennessee, Alabama, Missouri and LSU all stand in the Sooners' path, with one more mistake all but eliminating them from both SEC title and CFP contention.
The most clear-cut path for Oklahoma is run the table. Having a whopping five ranked wins on their resume should easily keep them in the top 10, and probably earn them a rematch with Ole Miss in the SEC title game if they also win out.
Now, it's a lot to ask the Sooners to win four straight games against ranked foes, especially when they just lost to Ole Miss. This offense remains erratic, and the defense showed some cracks for the first time all year. They're lucky there's a lot parity in the SEC this season, so there's likely going to be a lot of two-loss and possibly three-loss teams vying for one of the last at-large bids to the CFP. Still, the loss to Texas doesn't look quite as good as it once did, and now Ole Miss is firmly ahead of them in the pecking order.
If they lose to Alabama, that may be the nail in the coffin despite the Crimson Tide being so good this year. The Sooners will need help from rivals to knock down one-loss teams like Vanderbilt and Georgia. But it's taking care of business against fellow two-loss foes like LSU and Tennessee that remains the key to staying within the top four in the SEC.