Oklahoma Sooners Fail to Make ESPN’s 2025 Way-Too-Early Top 25
The college football offseason always brings with it a flurry of predictions, rankings, and speculation about which teams will rise to the top and which ones will fall short. One of the earliest and most talked-about rankings each year is ESPN’s Way-Too-Early Top 25, a list that offers an early look at the teams expected to contend for a spot in the College Football Playoff (CFP) and the national championship in the coming season. The 2025 iteration of this list has already garnered significant attention, but for Oklahoma Sooners fans, the 2025 preseason ranking might come as a disappointment: the Sooners have failed to make ESPN’s Way-Too-Early Top 25.
This marks a significant shift for Oklahoma, a program that has traditionally been a fixture in both national discussions and the rankings at the start of each season. The Sooners, who have been a perennial contender in the Big 12 and have made multiple appearances in the College Football Playoff in recent years, were once a fixture in these early rankings, often making a case for themselves as one of the premier programs in college football. However, the 2025 list shows that the Sooners’ status as one of the country’s elite programs is being questioned.
In this article, we’ll examine why the Oklahoma Sooners failed to crack ESPN’s Way-Too-Early Top 25 for 2025, what factors contributed to their exclusion, and what it means for the future of the program as they transition into the SEC. We’ll also explore what Oklahoma must do to regain its status as a national title contender and how they can turn this perceived setback into motivation for the upcoming season.
The Changing Landscape of College Football
Before diving into why Oklahoma didn’t make the top 25, it’s important to consider the broader context of the 2025 college football season. The landscape of the sport is undergoing significant changes, particularly with Oklahoma preparing to make its highly anticipated transition from the Big 12 to the SEC. This move is expected to bring both opportunities and challenges, as Oklahoma will now face some of the toughest teams in college football on a weekly basis.
While the move to the SEC has the potential to raise the program’s profile, it also means that the Sooners will face more difficult competition right out of the gate. Teams like Alabama, Georgia, LSU, and Ohio State are perennial powerhouses, and now Oklahoma must compete with these programs week in and week out. The increased level of competition will undoubtedly have an impact on how the Sooners are perceived in the preseason rankings, and it may have contributed to their exclusion from ESPN’s Way-Too-Early Top 25.
Moreover, the college football playoff expansion to 12 teams in 2024 means that there will be more competition for a spot in the final rankings, and teams that may have previously been on the fringe of playoff contention now have a better shot at getting in. With more teams to compete with, it becomes even more difficult for a program like Oklahoma, which has seen some instability in recent years, to secure a spot among the nation’s elite teams.
Key Factors Behind Oklahoma’s Exclusion
1. Transition to the SEC
Oklahoma’s upcoming move to the SEC is a defining moment in the program’s history, but it also raises questions about the team’s ability to perform at the highest level in a new, more challenging environment. The SEC has long been regarded as the most competitive and physically demanding conference in college football. For the past several years, Oklahoma has dominated the Big 12, but it is unclear whether that dominance will continue when the Sooners are competing against programs like Alabama, Georgia, LSU, and others week in and week out.
The coaching staff, led by Brent Venables, will have to quickly adapt to the new challenges the SEC presents. Venables, who took over as head coach in 2022, has yet to achieve the same level of success that was expected of him in his first two seasons. While his defensive-minded approach was supposed to elevate Oklahoma’s defense to a championship level, the Sooners have struggled in several key areas, including defensive consistency and the ability to stop high-powered offenses. Oklahoma’s failure to secure a Big 12 title in 2023, and their absence from the College Football Playoff, only compounded doubts about their ability to contend for a national championship in the new environment of the SEC.
Moreover, the SEC is home to multiple teams that are currently seen as more complete, balanced, and championship-ready. Programs like Georgia, Alabama, and LSU are entrenched as the top programs in the country, making it difficult for any new entrant, including Oklahoma, to immediately earn their place at the top.
2. Recent Inconsistencies on the Field
While Oklahoma has historically been a powerhouse in college football, the program has faced a series of challenges in recent seasons that have led to a decline in performance. After a string of successful years under former head coach Lincoln Riley, including multiple CFP appearances, the Sooners hit a rough patch in 2022 and 2023.
In 2023, Oklahoma finished with a 6-7 record and missed out on a bowl game for the first time in over two decades. While the Sooners showed flashes of brilliance, they were inconsistent, especially on defense, where they were often overmatched by more physical teams. Venables, a former defensive coordinator at Clemson, has worked tirelessly to improve the defense, but it remains a question mark heading into the 2025 season. The lack of defensive stability, paired with the team’s offensive struggles, left many wondering if Oklahoma could compete at the same level as the top programs in the country.
While the Sooners have recruited well, particularly in the defensive and offensive trenches, they still have a lot of work to do to prove that they can contend with the SEC’s elite teams. Until they can put together a more complete product on both sides of the ball, they may continue to be overlooked in rankings like ESPN’s Way-Too-Early Top 25.
3. Coaching and Program Development Under Venables
Another key factor that has contributed to Oklahoma’s absence from ESPN’s Way-Too-Early Top 25 is the uncertainty surrounding the development of the program under Venables. Venables, who was hired in 2022, is still in the early stages of rebuilding the program. While he has proven to be a great defensive mind, it remains to be seen whether he can achieve sustained success as a head coach at the collegiate level.
The Sooners’ early struggles under Venables have raised questions about his ability to bring Oklahoma back to the level of national contention. While Venables inherited a program in need of defensive improvements, the challenges have been more difficult than anticipated. His task is not only to revamp the defense but also to get the offense back to the level of production that made the Sooners one of the most dynamic teams in the country under Riley.
While Venables has recruited at a high level, with top-tier defensive recruits joining the program, it will take time for these players to develop and make an impact. Given the current state of the program and the need for improvement on both sides of the ball, it’s understandable that many pundits have ranked Oklahoma lower in their preseason projections.
4. The Competition at the Top
In the 2025 preseason rankings, the top 10 teams are stacked with perennial powerhouses and emerging contenders. Teams like Georgia, Alabama, Ohio State, Michigan, and Clemson are already seen as the top dogs in college football, and there are plenty of other programs vying for a spot in the elite ranks. As a result, there are fewer spots available for teams like Oklahoma, which is currently in a rebuilding phase. These teams have built-in advantages in terms of depth, experience, and overall talent, making it difficult for a program like Oklahoma to immediately crack the top 25.
Programs like Florida State, Penn State, Notre Dame, and Washington are also on the rise, and they have proven to be more consistent than Oklahoma in recent years. These programs have secured spots in the rankings, further pushing the Sooners out of the Way-Too-Early Top 25.
What Does This Mean for Oklahoma in 2025?
Despite being excluded from ESPN’s Way-Too-Early Top 25, there is still plenty of optimism surrounding the Oklahoma Sooners. The team is making strides in recruiting, especially in the trenches, where they will need to improve if they want to compete with the best in the SEC. Players like Dante Moore, Tyler Owens, and Marcus Dupree will be crucial in shaping the program’s future.
Additionally, the 2025 season presents an opportunity for Oklahoma to prove the doubters wrong. The Sooners will have to show that they are capable of contending with the heavyweights of college football. If they can shore up their defense, develop their offensive identity, and build chemistry under Venables, they could still surprise many and make a run at the CFP.
For now, Oklahoma has been left out of the conversation in the preseason rankings. But as the season unfolds, there is plenty of time for the Sooners to prove that they still belong among the nation’s elite programs. The exclusion from ESPN’s Way-Too-Early Top 25 could serve as fuel for the fire, motivating the players and coaching staff to rise to the occasion and make a statement in their first season in the SEC.
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