A dominant shutout in Norman wasn't enough to satisfy voters, as LSU surges following a high-profile victory, the Sooners find themselves sliding despite a nearly perfect opener
Oklahoma did not play its way down the rankings this week. The Sooners just got caught in a week where somebody else made a louder statement.
After a 51-0 shutout of UTEP, Oklahoma dropped from No. 10 to No. 11 in the AP Poll and from No. 9 to No. 10 in the Coaches Poll.
That is not a referendum on Friday night in Norman. The Sooners scored on their first eight possessions, got a clean night from John Mateer, and posted a shutout without putting the entire playbook on tape. There was nothing about that performance that deserved a demotion on its own.
The problem is simple.
Everybody ahead of them won, and LSU jumped the line after a 51-10 win over Clemson in Lane Kiffin’s debut.
That is how these early polls work. Blow out a Group of Six team and the voters shrug. Beat a brand-name opponent by 40 and the ballot moves.
LSU got the benefit of the schedule and the splash. Oklahoma got dinged for winning the kind of opener it was supposed to win. Annoying? A little. Meaningful? Not really.
If anything, the more useful ranking movement came on the other side of Saturday’s matchup. Michigan fell out of the AP Top 25 and dropped to No. 24 in the Coaches Poll after a controversial escape against Western Michigan. The Wolverines needed a Hail Mary to survive a game they were heavily favored to handle, and the voters noticed. Oklahoma is currently a 5.5-point favorite for the trip to Ann Arbor.
Poll position in early September is mostly noise, especially after one game. What matters is the actual trajectory into a real test. Oklahoma looked efficient and physical against UTEP. Michigan looked stagnant for long stretches and needed a miracle finish. The Sooners already beat the Wolverines last season. Now they head on the road as a favorite against a team the polls have already started cooling on.
The drop from 10 to 11 in the AP and 9 to 10 in the coaches ballot will still bother some people because it always does. Fans see a 51-0 score and assume the ranking should rise on principle. Voters do not work that way in Week 1. They reward the most impressive win available, and LSU had the one that was one of the best on résumé.
Oklahoma’s shutout was clean. It was not a résumé changer. Venables’ team should not need the polls for motivation anyway. The standard in Norman is not about climbing a spot after beating UTEP. It is about handling the next one, and the next one is a road game at Michigan with a lot more information available than there was a week ago.
The Wolverines are vulnerable on offense. Oklahoma has a defense built to create stress. Mateer has already won this matchup once.
So yes, the Sooners dropped. No, they did not do anything wrong. LSU earned the jump. Michigan earned the slide. And Oklahoma still gets the only thing that actually matters this week: a chance to make the rankings look silly on the field in Ann Arbor.
