What are the Oklahoma Sooners’ chances of making the College Football Playoffs?

There is less than a month until the Oklahoma Sooners open the 2024 season against the Temple Owls on August 30th. Fall camp is underway as OU prepares for Year 3 of [autotag]Brent Venables[/autotag] it was.

College football looks a lot different than it did just twelve months ago, and the Sooners are right in the middle of all the changes. [autotag]Conference realignment[/autotag] shook up the sport, and one of the most notable moves is Oklahoma leaving the [autotag]12 big[/autotag] to join the [autotag]SEC[/autotag]. O [autotag]College Football Playoffs[/autotag] expanded from four teams from 2014 to 2023 to twelve teams in 2024 and 2025. [autotag]ANYTHING[/autotag] and the [autotag]transfer portal[/autotag] continue to be quicksands in the sport as well.

With all the changes taking place in college football in 2024, ESPN has released its list of thirty teams they believe can make the Playoffs this season (ESPN+). The list was based on ESPN’s analysis of the Football Power Index (FPI). 30 teams had at least a 10% chance of reaching the [autotag]PCP[/autotag]according to ESPN calculations.

Here’s what college football analyst Heather Dinich, who wrote the article, said about the new possibilities in the Playoffs.

“That’s what the 12-team College Football Playoff is all about. Inclusion. Interest. A field so deep you need waders,” Dinich said. “Of course there will be familiar faces, like the SEC and [autotag]Big Ten[/autotag] have combined to win eight of the first 10 playoff titles, and that trend is expected to continue. According to ESPN Football Power Index, 12 of the top 15 teams are from these two leagues. The Allstate Playoff Predictor gives the SEC a 53% chance of winning the national title and the Big Ten a 32% chance. They’re in good company, though. There are 30 teams – 30 teams! – with at least a 10% chance of making the CFP this year, according to ESPN Analytics. The CFP selection committee is made up of 13 people, who don’t always agree on computers.”

Oklahoma is on the list, and according to the numbers, the Sooners have a 36.6 percent chance of making the playoffs. This number ranks 10th in the country. The percentage for OU to not only enter but also make the playoffs and win a national title is 2.8%.

Half of the top 10 teams on the list are in the SEC. The Allstate Playoff Predictor gives the SEC a 53 percent chance of one of its teams winning it all.

Again, these numbers are based on the Football Power Index. The same FPI predicted the Sooners will have an 8-4 record in their first season in the SEC, with a 5.1 percent chance of winning the conference. However, this model also has the Sooners as the eighth-best team in the country with an FPI rating of 17.2.

The road will be tough in the SEC, but the Sooners won’t take a backseat to anyone. They relish the challenge of football’s strongest conference. [autotag]Brent Venables[/autotag] spent two and a half years preparing the program for this moment and those to come. There are a few weeks left to see if the Sooners are “SEC ready” or not.

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This article originally appeared on Sooners Wire: What are the Oklahoma Sooners’ chances of making the College Football Playoffs?