Phil Steele’s annual dictionary-sized college football preview has the Oklahoma Sooners as the No. 4 team in the country at season’s end.
Only defending national champion Florida State, Alabama and Ohio State will finish higher than the Sooners according to Steele. Rather than rank teams by where they will begin the season, Steele projects where they’ll end up after all the games are played.
In Steele’s eyes, the Sooners will will be one of four teams in the inaugural College Football Playoff.
“No team in the country outside of Florida State comes into the season with more momentum than the Sooners,” Steele says in his OU analysis.
Steele ranks OU in all eight categories of his top positional units, with four positions ranked in the top 12 nationally.
He says the Sooners’ schedule also helps their lofty ranking. OU’s schedule is rated 49th in the nation according to Steele, and he also points to not having a conference championship game and playing Baylor in Norman as advantages.
“In their five true road games they take on just one team that had a winning record last year (although TCU will be tough),” he says.
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