Oklahoma Sooners Football: Sooners 9th in College Football Playoff Rankings (and Other Observations)

The Oklahoma Sooners moved up to No. 9 in this week’s College Football Playoff rankings after an especially wild weekend.

A few quick reactions:

• What did West Virginia do to the committee to deserve this? Did they leave a dead raccoon on the doorstep in Grapevine? Did they give them some bad moonshine that made Barry Alvarez go blind? Did Jesco White steal a pair of Condi Rice’s tap shoes? Actually, I bet the Mountaineers are ranked so low because Kirby Hocutt is still sore from that ass-whoopin’ WVU gave to his Red Raiders.
• Oklahoma’s ranking is pretty fair, which is what I’ve thought about OU’s CFP ranking for the third week in a row. They don’t deserve to be ranked ahead of the team that defeated Ohio State and has the same number of losses. With all of the stuff that has happened and potentially will happen, OU isn’t out of the fight just yet.
• Tennessee is all the way up to No. 19 after being unranked a week ago. That win at home over Kentucky must’ve really put them over the top, huh?
• The Boise State Broncos leapfrogged the Western Michigan Broncos after a win over Hawaii. However, Wyoming will have to lose a game in order for Boise State to be eligible for a New Year’s Six spot, which is fairly likely considering the fact that the Cowboys play Donnel Pumphrey and the San Diego State Aztecs (9-1) this week. Theoretically, San Diego State has a shot at a New Year’s Six berth if they can win out. I’d love to watch Pumphrey against a Power 5 squad on a big stage.
• Washington State’s early losses (Eastern Washington, Boise State) don’t do them any favors, but thy need to start moving up in these rankings. They’ve played well lately, and they should be ranked ahead of multiple teams that are above them in the rankings. The Boise State loss isn’t a bad loss, and the EWU loss isn’t as bad as it looks. The EWU Eagles have a 9-1 record and could beat plenty of FBS teams, and WSU’s loss to them happened during the first weekend of the season.
• What do I think about the top six? I have no arguments whatsoever, actually. Bama is an obvious choice at No. 1. Ohio State’s loss to Penn State keeps looking better and better. Michigan looks better than Clemson, who has been shaky in several instances this season. Clemson has the head-to-head win over Louisville, and Louisville has a better loss and better strength of schedule than Washington. Everything checks out.