Oklahoma Unranked in Preseason Coaches Poll, 1st Time Out of Rankings Since 1999

Oklahoma football was ranked in the preseason coaches poll each year this century, but that streak stopped on Monday.

Oklahoma is the first team on the outside looking in this year. The Sooners received 221 votes, just a little short of No. 25 Boise State (246 votes).

Preseason rankings, of course, don't necessarily foreshadow regular-season and playoff success. Penn State head coach James Franklin notably had this recent comment about preseason polls.

Oklahoma ultimately has the chance to change the narrative about its team.

In fairness, last year was a tough one for the Sooners, who went 6-7 (2-6 SEC) and lost in the Armed Forces Bowl to Navy. That marks OU's second 6-7 season in three years under head coach Brent Venables, who did lead the Sooners to a 10-3 campaign (No. 15 in the final Associated Press poll) in 2023.

There's reason for optimism in 2025, though.

OU is bringing in a strong recruiting/transfer class of 2025 ranked 17th overall, per 247Sports' overall and composite rankings.

The Sooners also have a new offensive coordinator in 29-year-old Ben Arbuckle, who just spent two years as Washington State's OC and helped the Cougars earn the No. 6 scoring offense in Division I FBS last year. OU was 97th in scoring, so there's great hope Arbuckle could turn the unit around.

On the flip side, it doesn't help that Oklahoma is in the brutally tough SEC, where the team is predicted to finish 10th. Nine SEC teams are notably in the Coaches' preseason poll. OU plays three of them on the road this year in No. 8 Alabama, No. 13 South Carolina and No. 18 Tennessee.

The last time OU was ranked outside the top 25 in the Coaches' poll, 1999, resulted in the team finishing 7-5. That was head coach Bob Stoops' first season, and in the following year, he led the Sooners to a national championship.

In the present date, OU's first game is nearing quickly on Aug. 30 at home against Illinois State.