Oklahoma is in the College Football Playoff, moving into the fourth and final spot in the rankings after winning the Big 12 championship.
Faced with a tricky choice, the College Football Playoff selection committee fell back on some simple criteria: One loss is better than two. Winning a conference championship is better than not. Go with the team that didn’t get blown out.
Oklahoma is in the playoff, moving into the fourth and final spot Sunday after avenging its only loss by winning the Big 12 championship against Texas.
«I feel like we have a team worthy of it, a team that can go make a run,» Sooners coach Lincoln Riley said on ESPN.
The Sooners (12-1) will face No. 1 Alabama (13-0) in the Orange Bowl on Dec. 29 in a matchup of Heisman Trophy front-runner quarterbacks — Kyler Murray of Oklahoma and the Tide’s Tua Tagovailoa, who sprained his ankle in the Southeastern Conference championship game Saturday and is expected to miss at least two weeks.
No. 2 Clemson (13-0) plays No. 3 Notre Dame (12-0) in the Cotton Bowl on the same day. The winners meet in the championship game on Jan. 7 in Santa Clara, California.
Georgia (11-2) dropped a spot to fifth and Ohio State (12-1) remained sixth in the selection committee’s final top 25 released Sunday. The Bulldogs lost to Alabama in the Southeastern Conference championship game Saturday while the Buckeyes won the Big Ten championship against Northwestern.
«In the end, one-loss conference champion with their only loss being on a neutral field to a ranked team, which they avenged in their conference championship,» selection committee chairman Rob Mullens said on ESPN.
