The Oklahoma Sooners are set to open the 2026 college football season in a little over a week. They'll begin their journey on improving upon their 10-win season and College Football Playoff appearance a season ago. To return to the playoffs, they'll have to go through some of the best teams in the country on a schedule that's among the toughest in college football.
But the Sooners faced a difficult schedule last year and overcame it with big wins over Michigan, Tennessee, and Alabama to cement themselves as a playoff team. Can they do it again?
This year, Oklahoma will face eight teams inside the top 25 of Bill Connelly's SP+ metrics. Oklahoma ranks No. 11. Three of their opponents rank in the top 10. The Sooners enter the season with arguably
the best team of the Brent Venables era. They have an offense returning a lot of snaps from last season, with a quarterback that's healthy again. OU has a defense that has elite talent at all three levels and should be as disruptive as we saw a season ago.
On paper, the Sooners look like a contender. But how does Oklahoma compare to their opponents in SP+ metrics heading into the season?
What is SP+?
SP+ is a tempo- and opponent-adjusted measure of college football efficiency. It is a predictive measure of the most sustainable and predictable aspects of football, not a résumé ranking, and, along those same lines, these projections aren't intended to be a guess at what the AP Top 25 will look like at the end of the year. These are simply early offseason power rankings based on the information we have been able to gather to date. Connelly, ESPN
Oklahoma Sooners in the SP+ Rankings
UTEP Miners
Sept. 5 in Norman, Okla.
Michigan Wolverines
Sept. 12 in Ann Arbor, Mich.
New Mexico
Sept. 19 in Norman, Okla.
Georgia Bulldogs
Sept. 26 in Athens, Ga.
BYE WEEK
Oct. 3
Texas Longhorns
Oct. 10 at the Cotton Bowl in Dallas, TX.
Kentucky Wildcats
Oct. 17 in Norman, Okla.
Mississippi State Bulldogs
Oct. 24 in Starkville, Miss.
South Carolina Gamecocks
Oct. 31 in Norman, Okla.
Florida Gators
Nov. 7 in Gainesville, Fla.
Ole Miss Rebels
Nov. 14 in Norman, Okla.
Texas A&M Aggies
Nov. 21 in Norman, Okla.
Missouri Tigers
Nov. 28 in Columbia, Mo.
Biggest Takeaway
The Oklahoma Sooners rank in the top 33 in offense, defense, and special teams SP+. Only three teams on their schedule rank in the top 33 in each of those categories: Georgia, Texas, and Ole Miss. Oklahoma will also face challenges from teams that rank in the top 40 in all three categories, like Florida or South Carolina, which ranks No. 41 in offensive SP+ but is inside the top 40 in the other two categories.
Only the cream will rise to the crop in 2026. If the Oklahoma Sooners are able to manage their schedule and come away with double-digit wins, they'll prove to be one of the best teams in the nation and a threat to win it all.
SEC SP+ RankingsSEC SP+ Rankings
Contact/Follow us @SoonersWire on X (formerly known as Twitter), and like our page on Facebook to follow ongoing coverage of Oklahoma news, notes, and opinions. You can also follow John on X @john9williams.
This article originally appeared on Sooners Wire: How does Oklahoma compare to 2026 opponents in ESPN's SP+?
