Coming off of a 10-2 season and a College Football Playoff berth, the Oklahoma Sooners have high expectations for 2026. In many of the preseason rankings out there, the Sooners are right around the top 10 teams in the nation but will have to contend with a tough schedule.
On paper, Oklahoma's one of the better teams in the nation. Their squad ranks in the top 30 in ESPN's SP+ metrics for offense, defense, and special teams.
While the analytics like Oklahoma, a pair of writers over there aren't so sure the Sooners make it back to the playoff in 2026.
In ESPN's latest bowl projections, Mark Schlabach has the Sooners playing in the ReliaQuest Bowl in Tampa against the Michigan Wolverines. Kyle Bonagura has the Sooners heading west to play in the Las
Vegas Bowl against one-time Big Eight and Big 12 rival, the Nebraska Cornhuskers.
It should be noted that neither Schlabach nor Bonagura picked Oklahoma to make the playoff last year, and the Sooners set the record straight, despite an offense that underwhelmed for most of the season.
This year, the expectation is that the Sooners' offense will look a lot closer to what's expected in Norman, and if that's the case, it would be surprising if OU didn't make the playoff.
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This article originally appeared on Sooners Wire: Oklahoma Sooners missing the Playoff in ESPN Bowl Projections
