Every college football season, there is a team that comes out of nowhere to shock the sport. Last season, the Oklahoma Sooners were arguably one of those teams.
Oklahoma went 10-3 and made the College Football Playoff, one year after going 6-7 in the SEC. This season, it feels as though people believe in Oklahoma to be back in playoff contention, but don't believe in them enough to think they are a legit contender.
ESPN writer Dan Wetzel is higher on the Sooners than others. He feels Oklahoma could be the surprise of the sport and be a three seed in the College Football Playoff.
"My other surprise is I've got Oklahoma as, like, the three seed," Wetzel said via the 'College GameDay Podcast.' "I think they're going to win the SEC, and most people
don't."
Wetzel's prediction is significantly more aggressive than the general outlook surrounding Oklahoma. The Sooners are widely viewed as a team capable of returning to the College Football Playoff, but they're often placed behind the likes of the Georgia Bulldogs and the Texas Longhorns when discussing the SEC's top contenders.
That makes Wetzel's prediction particularly notable. He isn't simply predicting another playoff appearance for Brent Venables' team; he believes Oklahoma can navigate the SEC and finish the season as the conference's top team.
The Sooners have the defensive foundation to make that prediction possible. The bigger question will be whether the offense, led by John Mateer, can provide enough consistency to capitalize on it.
If Oklahoma actually earns a top-three playoff seed and wins the SEC, the conversation around the program will change completely. It would mean the Sooners didn't simply benefit from a favorable turnaround in 2025; they had become one of the teams capable of controlling the SEC.
That's a massive leap from where Oklahoma was two years ago, and it's exactly the kind of leap Wetzel is betting on.
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This article originally appeared on Sooners Wire: Oklahoma might be the surprise of college football in 2026
